


similar enough to actual stars

by dabs_to_exo



Category: Star Trek
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, M/M, Slow Burn, Trans Pavel Chekov, alcoholic/abusive frank, hes got the Legs for it come on i had to, ill add tags as i go, it isnt mentioned a lot but might be later, jim is a rugby player, parental abuse warning, spock is a dancer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-07
Updated: 2017-09-22
Packaged: 2018-10-15 21:42:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 36,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10558166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dabs_to_exo/pseuds/dabs_to_exo
Summary: *EDIT* THE MOST RECENT CHAPTER IS HORRIBLY LATE BUT ALMOST FINISHED, HEADS UP IT IS 1/2 OF THE WORDS THAT I ALREADY HAVE POSTED AKA ITS LONG AS BALL SO GIMME SOME SLACK ILY*Jim likes rugby, Spock likes dancing. Misunderstandings will always happen between these two in any universe it seems, but I promise this will be fun! High School AU, because the world could always use another one of those. Spock is going to a new school, but thanks to a bully he finds a new friend in rugby captain Jim Kirk. Hikaru and Leonard act as matchmakers, Pavel is Tiny, and Nyota is done with everyone except maybe her girlfriend. Gaila and Scotty are there too! Focused on Jim and Spock's relationship, just a fic about the crew living their lives in high school.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> SHOUT OUT TO MY FRIEND MEGAN FOR BEING MY WONDERFUL META I MAKE SO MANY MISTAKES AND IM SO PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS FIC I OWE MY LIFE TO HER AND SHE MAKES WRITING THIS 10X MORE FUN  
> some bg here: in this fic everyone is human and amanda is alive, sarek is still an ambassador (not sure where from tho (it's not important)) and since its a human au both spock and his dad are emotionally standoffish still (sarek bc he must be for his job to stay calm + thats just how he naturally is aaand Spock bc hes an emo Teen™) but a lot looser so you may expect some ooc sorta stuff? I live breathe and die for sarek being subtly playful/soft/cute so youre probably gonna get that too!  
> I apologize in advance for any mistakes i make and if posting gets far in between!! I will try to have a regular update schedule!
> 
> NOTE: the prologue is all in Spock's POV but in future chapters im obnoxious how i switch between POV so when there is a --- that's a switch in POV!

“I apologize for the inconvenience, my son,” Sarek said. It was dinner time and he had just announced to his family that they needed to move to California for his new ambassador’s position. Sarek himself didn't seem terribly sorry as there was a glint of excitement in his eyes, but he did definitely sympathize with his son. Moving, especially towards the end of the school year, can be rough for someone Spock’s age, no matter how resilient he knew his son was.

  
Spock kept his eyes down on his plate for a few moments, collecting himself. He finally looked up and even pushed for a smile before saying, “This is a wonderful opportunity. There is nothing to apologize for when this will bring us nothing but benefit.”  
Once she knew her son was alright, Amanda threw her arms up and around her husband’s neck, kissing his face repeatedly.

  
“Oooh I am so proud of you honey,” She squealed, hugging him in tighter. Sarek allowed himself a chuckle and hugged her back slightly, letting his forehead rest on her shoulder.

  
“I assure you there is nothing to be proud of,“ Sarek began, and Amanda pulled back and looked him in the eyes with a fake glare.

  
“Don't you put down your accomplishments like that!” She smacked his arm lightly.

  
Sarek had a small, almost sheepish smile.

  
“Acknowledged.”

 

 

The move took a week, and Spock didn't really have any friends to say goodbye to so once he was unregistered from his current high school he spent all of his time packing up his house.  
Spock’s bookshelf was the hardest to pack for his room, as he was worried he would lose his most perfect arrangement. Ordered by author, title, then sub-separated by page count. It had taken Spock the better part of a weekend to do all that.  
He didn't have a large variety of clothes, so those all fit into one box and was done. He finished with his room after two days leaving only some clothes and his bed out, not including his bathroom supplies. Those would be moved last.  
His mother's garden, as they had moved before, was really easy to pull up, pot, then transport. Amanda worriedly fussed over her favorite rose bushes, but everything went without a hitch, minus one fallen lemon tree.

The first time Spock saw his new home was daunting. It was large, color palette reflecting that of a Spanish Mission.  
The backyard was large and lush, and the ceilings of the two story were high. Large windows at every room, with views out to the rest of the surrounding neighborhoods. The garage was spacious, with room for both Amanda and Sarek’s cars, not to mention storage. The kitchen had dark granite countertops and light grey cabinets. Amanda didn't feel like there was enough color in the kitchen, so she kept yellow flowers in the windowsill above the sink. Sarek’s office was on the first floor, with sliding doors for when he required privacy. Amanda had put a vase of yellow flowers there as well. Since they purchased a new desk for the office, the old one was given to Spock for his own room. It was simple and black with few scratches on it from years of use.  
The sun was always out, it seemed. It was just the beginning of spring and Amanda's allergies were acting up to the extreme. Spock was in the moving van trying to find something he could carry when he heard a sneeze and a crash.  
“Yeesh! My bad!” Amanda called out laughing. She had dropped a plate and Spock jogged inside to help clean up the shards.

The windows were all open, a warm breeze going through the two story house. Spock’s room was larger than before, but he didn't really mind. His things being more spread out than before seemed to give him more peace of mind. His wide window was open too, and he put his bed right below it. The walls were a light dreamy blue that Spock was automatically fond of. His bookshelf remained empty, with the stacked boxes still unopened next to it.

  
“Knock knock,” Amanda said, standing in the doorway of Spock’s room.

  
“It is unnecessary to make that noise to catch my attention.” Spock said, his brows furrowing.

  
“Spock. I brought you something!” Amanda pulled out a small packet.

  
Spock took it, opened it, and felt some pieces fall into his palm. They were multicolored plastic stars.

  
“They’re glow stars for your ceiling. I know this seems more of a childish thing to have but you like space and I was thinking you could put up your favorite constellations!”

  
Spock pinched one star, holding it out as if to inspect its worth.

  
“I am grateful, I believe they will look very nice on my ceiling.” Spock said, looking up for the first time he could remember at his new ceiling.

  
Amanda smiled widely.  
There was a ridiculous amount of stars but lucky for Spock there was a ridiculous amount of adhesive as well. It took some self discipline to keep from immediately setting up the stars. It took him another day before everything in his room was situated, but once it was Spock spent the dusky afternoon setting the stars up, his astronomy books lying open on his bed for reference.

Spock spent the weekend sitting outside helping his mother replant her garden. The sun was warm and the grass was pleasant to sit in. The backyard was large, separated in two by grass and concrete. The concrete side had a pool and a contained garden for Sarek’s herbs while the grassy side was filling with Amanda’s various flowers. Spock, though he would have rather not, remained barefoot through the weekend, and it turned out to be a calming experience. Sarek came out to join his family after his day's work was done, and they all relaxed together in the shade of their trees.

 

 

“You nervous? Amanda asked, once more standing outside of Spock’s doorway. It was Sunday night before he was set to start at his new school.

  
Spock had his uniform set out on his bed and he fiddled with the button on the white sleeve. “Such thoughts are illogical. I have no reservations towards the school at all, nor the… people who will be attending.”

  
The uniform consisted of a burgundy sweater with a white button up undershirt, black pants, and a pair of suggested yet not mandatory black sneakers.

  
“I’m sure everything will work out, love.” Amanda said before giving her son a quick hug.

 

 

 

In the morning, Spock drove himself to school, his car modest but new. A generous if unnecessary gift from his parents for his seventeenth birthday. He was an hour early, but the office lights were on. He strode into the office as confidently as he could, to get his schedule from his counselor. One counselor per grade seemed an efficient system to Spock but by the looks of his counselor Mrs. Tompkins, it added some extra stress rather than alleviate any.

  
“You’re my new kid right?” She was very pretty and young, but her hair was messy and her office uniform was wrinkled. She attempted to swipe the extra wisps of her dirty blond hair behind her ear, but instead it fell in her eyes once more Her desk was unkempt, and she fumbled to find Spock’s schedule, almost knocking her coffee over twice.

  
“Yes,” Spock replied, watching the counselor struggle with vague interest.

  
“Your name is…” Mrs. Tompkins sighed and closed her eyes, trying to remember his name.

  
“I go by Spock. My first name is difficult to pronounce.”

  
“Spock. Got it. I’ll add that to the records so your teachers know. If I remember.”

  
Spock nodded, grateful.

  
“Fuck it… I’ll just print out a new one…” Mrs. Tompkins mumbled under her breath with a sigh. She tapped the keys to her computer and a new copy of Spock’s schedule started printing. She then stood and stepped past Spock out of her small office to call down the hall, “Hikaru! You here yet?”

  
A boy about Spock’s age came down the hallway, and poked his head in the doorframe.

  
“What’s up Mrs. T?” He eyed Spock, a black windbreaker unzipped over a his uniform and hanging off a shoulder. His pants were rolled up over his high top shoes, and he had no backpack.

  
“Hi, I’m Hikaru Sulu, I’m an office aide. You're a junior too right?” The boy asked, holding a hand out to Spock. Spock nodded, took Hikaru’s hand and shook it gingerly, retracting his hand as soon as possible.

  
“Yes ah, Hikaru, this is Spock. I need you to walk him around and show him his classes, get him his books, and find his locker. You got it?” she waved her hand between the two of them as she talked.

  
“Always Mrs. T, don’t worry.”

  
Mrs. Tompkins brushed the hair behind her ear. “Thanks, kiddo you’re a lifesaver.”

  
She passed Spock a pink paper, where his schedule was printed out.

 

 

 

Spock and Hikaru left the main office and went to the central square of the open campus. There were four buildings that lined the square, the first was the front office now behind Spock and Hikaru, and to the left was the science and math building. To the right was the arts and sports, leading to the dressing rooms, weight room, dance room, band room, and the gym, and even further the football field. At the far end were portable classrooms all stacked together, serving as miscellaneous and language classes. The buildings were all lined with lockers, colored green with flaking paint. The center of the square was a grassy area, thick and healthy. Hikaru led them through the small field, and pointed to one locker in particular against a language building.

  
“These are the senior lockers. Freshmen don’t get lockers, and other underclassmen usually have theirs either in the dressing rooms or in the science halls. Since there were more juniors than seniors though, some overflowed here. On the plus side, you’ll get to keep yours next year too. This locker is yours! It’s only two from mine, so that way in passing if you need any help you can reach me.” Hikaru reached back and tapped on a locker three times. “Come on, it’s time to go to the library.”

 

The walk from the locker square to the library was short, on the same side as the science building.  
The library itself was large and open, but lacked custom rows of bookshelves, rather opting for walls covered in books with a myriad of mismatched tables in the main area.

  
“Keep your schedule out, Bones is gonna need it.” Hikaru quietly instructed Spock.

  
To the back left side of the library, there was an open and mostly empty looking room. Inside a burly looking student sat at a table organizing library cards. He looked up at the two, and smiled widely looking at Hikaru.

  
“Hey, Hikaru, howdy stranger.” The boy had a strong southern drawl, unusual for a Californian student.

  
“I am Spock.” Spock said, dreading another handshake.

  
“Leonard,” The boy said, and instead he took Spock’s schedule and turned away to grab underneath his table. “Let’s see…ap physics... ap calc... honors bio…” He pulled out each related book accordingly with his free hand, and shoved them towards Spock over the table.

  
“Thank you,” Spock said, pulling them into his arms.

  
“Full schedule huh?” Leonard asked, leaning up again and passing the schedule back over.

  
“Nothing exemplary, I assure you.” Spock did not miss the strange look Leonard shot at Hikaru as he pocketed his schedule. There was a small stretch of silence where Spock searched for what to say before Leonard’s phone went off. He whipped it from his pocket and opened it up, his hair that was previously slicked back falling over his eyes as he looked down.

  
“Shit,” was all he said, standing up and pushing his chair back out of his way.

  
“Kirk?” Hikaru asked, an understanding flashing between the two. Spock watched curiously as Leonard nodded quickly and ran from the room.

 

Hikaru said nothing of the situation as Leonard left, and instead had Spock follow him back to his locker.

  
“12, 39, 16,” Hikaru mumbled, getting Spock’s locker open on the first try. “Aha! There we go. I usually don’t even get my own right on the first try...” He laughed almost nervously.

  
Hikaru was obviously trying in vain to make conversation. Spock still couldn’t get Leonard’s reaction out of his mind, so while he was putting his books away, he asked, “If I may inquire, what is Kirk?”

  
Hikaru looked up from where he was looking at his feet. He shrugged.

  
“You will probably find out eventually.” Hikaru paused, and laughed at Spock’s confused reaction to his cryptic statement. “Anyway, d’you want to come with me to the ice cream shop down the street after school? We have fourth together so we could go directly after school...”


	2. Go! Fight! WIN!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spock gets the shit kicked out of him, but manages to still look cute. Jim is instantly into it, and a friendship blooms. (and if you give a mouse a cookie... well you know how it goes after that, yeah?) Sorry this took so long to get ready I have rewritten this chapter at least four times so let's hope it isn't /too/ terrible. Again, shout out to Megan who kills it at that whole meta business I owe her everything honestly...
> 
> POV is mostly vague or Jim's until the ending I'm sorry my writing is so confusing :-0 If you have any questions/tips/etc drop a comment I'd love to hear what anyone is thinking about it so far

They say opposites attract. This was partially true if you looked at Spock and Jim’s views on high school. Spock loathed school socially, hallways filled with illogical beings who lacked manners and emotional control. The only tolerable parts were the classes themselves and Hikaru’s friendship.   
Jim Kirk however, loved school, he even got up earlier than he needed to for his rugby practice to get coffee for his teammates. Jim fed off the energy of his classmates and his friends. He was always moving, doing this or running that, winning this or fighting someone. Not that Jim got in many fights, oh no. Fighting could get him kicked off the rugby team. But if a friend was in need, Jim was always there to help, because he was pretty good in a offensive fight. 

That was another way in which Spock and Jim differed. Spock was not his best at offense, but very good at defense. After the first few punches, Spock was then able to predict and calculate his opponent's moves, as well as how to inflict damage in return. 

There were very few times in which Spock was entirely defenseless in a fight, most times included a blow to the head that frazzled his senses to the point where he couldn't maneuver around, couldn't fight back. In these instances, Spock curled into a default position, hands wrapped around head, knees pulled up as so to protect his abdomen, eyes closed shut tight. 

This was how Spock and Jim met. 

Jim had left his last period, his Art 3 class to go use the restroom, and before he even entered the room he could hear Donovan Mark swearing. Jim knew Donovan. The big senior boy was as much of a bully as he was dumb, this wasn’t the first time Donovan has beat up some poor kid for fun.  
"Listen, _freak._ No one here likes you. No one ever will like you. You think you're better than everyone but you're not!" The venom in Donovan’s voice made Jim grit his teeth in anger.  
Jim cracked the door open a bit and saw a dark haired boy on the ground in a tight fetal position. There was blood on the floor. 

Donovan had his leg pulled back and was about to kick when Jim hurled himself inside the bathroom and said, "Stop!" as forcefully as he could.

Donovan was a mean kid, and as he turned to face Jim, Jim remembered he was real large too. 

‘That's okay’, Jim thought, ‘I've taken on bigger guys and won. This just means I'll have to get some blood out of my uniform later, that's all.’

"Fuck d'you want, you cunt?" Donovan asked, sizing Jim up and glaring into his eyes. 

"I said, stop" Jim said, breaking eye contact with Donovan to check on the boy in the corner who was still curled up. The kid seemed at least still conscious, Jim worried if he could have a concussion.

Donovan pushed Jim back by the shoulder and said, "Hey, look at me when I'm talking to you.” Donovan had big, meaty hands lined with sweat. Jim could feel it through his uniform.

Jim huffed a breath in absolute annoyance, looking back at Donovan and then said, "Say please or kiss my ass, Donovan. Leave the dude alone." 

“What’s it to you?” Donovan asked, rolling his shoulder back. “Come to save ya little boyfriend?”

Jim’s hands reflexively balled into fists. ”Fuck off, I don’t even know him.”

The two boys moved closer and closer until their noses were almost touching, a display of dominance. Suddenly, Donovan swung a sucker punch into Jim's stomach, which knocked him back into the wall, his head hitting against the concrete and causing him to spit out blood. After a few dark seconds, Jim regained his composure in time to block Donovan’s next blow. Jim pushed his arm away and hit Donovan's nose with the butt of his hand, then threw his elbow into Donovan's stomach next. Donovan winced and screwed his eyes shut, stepping back twice before rushing forward again. Donovan was retaliating blindly, his eyes too teared up to see properly, missing Jim each time. Jim maneuvered around Donovan and then pushed him onto the wall, forcing a hand onto his neck.   
Jim remembered Bones’ circulatory rants from last week, who knew he would actually use it.

"It's amazing that you're so weak I just have to hit one place for you to lose oxygen to your head." Jim marvelled, his arms fully extended so that Donovan couldn't reach him, "leave now or I won't stop until you're unconscious." 

There was fear in the bully’s eyes as he felt himself becoming lightheaded, but Jim could also the the conflict between that fear and his pride as Donovan stood his ground.

Jim spoke again, confidence flooding in his body knowing that he won. “Do you even know what I’m doing? Lemme give you an anatomy lesson. This is your carotid artery. It brings oxygen-rich blood to your dumb head. Not that you use it anyways.”

“F-fuck you Kirk,” Donovan spat out, his face growing red. He dropped his hands to his sides, feeling too weak. 

“You feeling numb anywhere? How’s your head?” Jim asked with an almost feral sneer.

“L-lemme go. I’ll go.” Donovan choked, all anger gone from his eyes in defeat.

“Before I let you go, did you take anything of the kid's?” Jim tipped his head over to the boy still in a ball.

Donovan shook his head wildly, his shiny eyes looking like they were about to bug out of his head.  
Jim released the now purple faced Donovan, who proceeded to stumble out of the restroom holding a hand under his nose. 

‘Thank god I paid attention to Bones’s rants’ Jim thought to himself.

 

Jim took a deep breath, his stomach cramping from Donovan's punch, and then moved over to where the boy was and sat down next to him. 

"Hey, are you alright?" Jim asked as softly as he could, putting a tentative hand on the boys shoulder. “You here with me, friend?”

The boy stiffened at his touch but didn’t acknowledge Jim nor move, so Jim continued, "My name is Jim Kirk, what's yours? I need you to try and sit up so I can make sure you're alright. I’m sorry about Donovan by the way, he’s a total dick."

The boy loosened his grip on his head, and turned it to look at Jim. The boy had dark brown eyes and long eyelashes, parted bow lips with spots of blood smattered onto them. One eye and slanted cheekbone were already bruising an angry red.

"That's it, come on, just sit up as slowly as you want to," Jim says. 

The boy managed to get into a sitting position, leaning against the wall heavily for support. His eyes are red rimmed and glassy, and Jim could barely catch the boy saying his name, he was so quiet. 

"My name’s...Spock. Yes? Affirmative. Spock. That is my name." the boy slurred mindlessly. 

"Hey, Spock." Jim paused for a moment, studying his face. "Tilt your head forward, okay Spock? You need to keep your nose from clogging with blood."

Spock obeyed, and Jim said, "Good. Once you feel like you can stand, you should, because we need to get you to the nurse's office soon." 

There was a definite limit to Jim's medical knowledge, so he believed it would be best to take him to the nurse. Or Bones, but he was in his favorite class, and Jim didn't want to disturb him.

Spock sat for a minute, head between his knees, and Jim asked, "are you new here? I've never seen you around before." 

Spock reply was quiet again, Jim had to strain to hear him speak. "I have been attending this school for one week and two days."

Jim was silent, disappointed for not knowing Spock, because Jim prided himself in knowing all of the people at his school. He also felt awful knowing Spock had only been at the school for a week and already had a bully.

“You won?” Spock asked suddenly.

“Huh? Against Donovan you mean?”

Spock looked thoughtful for a moment, trying to recall. “Donovan, you won against Donovan. Indeed.”

Jim laughed, the noise of it echoing in the bathroom. “Yeah, I guess I did.”

Spock began to force himself up, but when he stood up straight his knees buckled and Jim had to dart up to catch him from falling. 

"Alright, I'll just keep hold of you, we can go as slow as you like, but we need to start making our way over to the nurse's office. She can take better care of you than I can." Jim said, hooking Spock’s thin arm over his shoulders, and wrapped his own arm around Spock’s waist. “I don't need you dying on me.” He let out a weak laugh.

"You have blood on your shirt," Spock said absentmindedly. 

"Yeah" Jim replied. He didn’t really know what else to say.

During the entire trip to the nurse's office, Jim described what happened while Spock was curled up. Spock listened closely, nodding his head slowly once in awhile. They stopped once, so Jim could readjust his grip on Spock.  
In the office, the stout nurse sent Jim back to his classroom with a note. Jim took one last glance at his new friend, being helped into the spare bed. Jim thought about asking to meet Spock after school, but shook his head then went back to his class. 

 

Jim gave his pass to his art teacher who didn’t blink an eye, rather crumpled the paper and shot it into the trash can. Jim slid back into his seat and his friend Chekov looked up from his graphite study, taking out one of his earbuds.

“Vhen did you get blood on your shirt?” He asked, leaning in to inspect Jim’s shirt closer. 

“Donovan,” Jim said shortly, knowing by Chekov’s wince that he understood. Donovan used to torture Chekov in his freshman year, kicking the shit out of him at least once every two weeks, not to mention the verbal abuse.

“He tried to fight you? Vhy?” Chekov asked, his eyes wide with concern.

“No, not me. He was beating another kid up when I just wanted to piss. Told him to stop and _then_ he tried to fight me.”

Chekov smiled with pride for his friend.

“You did something wery kind today, Jim. Are you alright?” 

Jim looked down at himself, then met Chekov’s gaze with a wide smile. “Other than a wicked punch in the gut, Donovan has nothing on me. Besides this blood, probably. Unless it’s mine. Or Spock’s.” He held out his shirt and looked at the dark stain that was starting to harden.

Chekov’s eyebrows knitted together as he set down his HB pencil in favor for his favorite, 5H. “Vho is Spock?”

 

Jim might as well have not been sent back to his class because he spaced out the rest of the block, thinking about Spock. He was really worried about his friend, but that wasn't the only thing on his mind. His eyes, his hands, his torso pressed against Jim’s, these thoughts badgered Jim. Which, of course, Jim shook off, because he didn't need another painful incident like what happened with Gary.   
Gary was a boy in Jim’s middle school who, as soon as he had learned about Jim’s sexuality and crush on him, manipulated his emotions to make him do things. Jim didn’t like telling the story, but long story short, Gary did some very horrible things to Jim. Being his first ‘real’ relationship, the experience made Jim never want to pursue any form of intimate relationship again, male or female. Which Jim knew was ridiculous, as Bones often reminded him, but when Jim Kirk decided something dammit, it was final, it was law.   
But the dark haired boy obviously wasn't aware of the law, and so he stayed in the back of Jim's mind all day. Not that Jim had a crush, but Spock definitely made Jim feel something, something beyond the usual warmth of friendship he couldn’t put his finger quite on..  
Then the final bell rang at last, Jim was quick as a flash back to the nurse's office, hoping to see Spock again. However, when he arrived, the nurse informed him that Spock had gone home. Jim almost asked the woman where Spock lived, but then realized how creepy as hell that probably sounded. Sighing, Jim shouldered his bag and left the school grounds, thoughts of Spock still taking over his mind. 

 

Jim didn’t want to go home. He never did. His mom was always on duty, and even when she was on shore leave she spent most of her time at her home base toward Southern California. His brother Sam had taken off for college in Washington as soon as he graduated, which left only Jim and Frank.   
Frank was a vulgar drunk, and he was drunk most of the time. Jim tried to give him credit, he did still work and provide the bare minimum to Jim. Jim would always forget that credit when Frank would raise his hand against him.  
Jim had two main options other than going home: go to work, and see if he could pick up an extra shift, or go to Bones’ house. His mama and pop were more like Jim’s real family than anything. Feeling somehow exhausted from the day, Jim opted for Bones’ house. 

 

Bones’ back door was always left unlocked for Jim, for the nights Jim absolutely could not stay in his house. Bones’ dad, David, always treated Jim like a son and his mama, April, always made sure Jim was eating. Jim would always joke with Bones that his mama invented the phrase ‘southern hospitality’. His parents were gone, both still at work, but Jim knew Bones would be home. Sometimes he thought it was eerie how well he knew his best friend’s schedule, seeing as how he could barely keep up with his own.  
Sitting at his dining table, Bones looked up from his physio homework at the sound of his back door closing. 

Immediately surveying his friend as he walked in and locking his eyes on Jim’s bloodstain, Bones pointed a finger and ground out, “What. Is that.” Jim could see tension automatically settling it’s grip into Bones, his jaw clenching.

“Not Frank,” Jim began, and Bones shook his head.

“I couldn’t give two fried eggs- ‘not Frank’- _who_ did that to you then?” Bones tried to keep his voice low and steady, he knew how yelling freaked Jim out.

“Donovan. He was beating up some kid and I had to help Bones, I-” Bones held up a hand, and Jim stopped talking.

“It’s okay. Where are you hurt?” Bones’ voice was soft now, his previous anger now boiled down to concern.

“Aw, come on Bones, you don’t really have that little faith in me,” Jim said, tossing his head to the side in a mock puppy-dog face. 

Bones chuckled, and said, “With how huge Donovan is? I’m sorry but there’s no way you got outta there scotch-free darlin’.”

Jim shrugged, and said, “‘s my side. Landed a mean sucker punch there.” 

Bones went into full doctor mode, making Jim sit on his dining room table and take off his shirt. He pressed his hand onto several places on Jim’s torso, asking him if it hurt. He checked for internal bleeding, and even asked:

“Are you urinating blood?”

Jim let out a loud, barking laugh as Bones stood by, looking less amused.

“I’m serious.”

Jim wiped a tear from his eye, and caught his breath before saying, “Yeah, I know, but it’s not that bad Bonesy. And for your information, my piss is just fine, thanks.”

Bones tossed Jim’s shirt at his head, scoffing out “Jackass. Let’s get you some food. My treat, kid.”

“We are the same age! Don’t pull that ‘kid’ shit with me!” Jim said with no actual menace, pulling his shirt on over his head. 

Bones grabbed his keys off the table, and started walking for the front door. “Say that to someone who isn’t about to buy you dinner, yeah?”

 

\---  
“What the fuck happened?’ Hikaru whisper-hissed at Spock. He was lying down in the nurse’s office waiting for his mom to pick him up. Hikaru saw him lying there when he was grabbing his water bottle from where he had left it that morning.

“Donovan…” Spock mumbled, gingerly touching his cheekbone, finding where it hurt and didn't.   
Hikaru looked immediately pissed. “What did you tell the nurse?” 

“...I fell down the stairs.”

“Knowing her, she’s gonna believe that at least.” Hikaru said, sighing. “Donovan is scum, Spock. I’m really sorry.” 

Spock shrugged, and looked away from his friend’s worried look. “There is no reason for you to be, Hikaru. But I understand your intention and I appreciate it.” 

Hikaru smiled grimly. “Uhura is gonna flip out. That’s bullshit! He can’t get away with this, we need to turn him in!”

“That is unnecessary.”

“What do you mean unnecessary? He kicked the shit out of you-”

Spock interrupted, his head throbbing, making him squeeze his eyes shut. “Donovan has obviously been a bully for years now, and he must have been turned in in the past. Any form of retaliation would do no justice, only elicit more conflict between myself and him resulting in more physical violence.”

The nurse stuck her head into the room. “Hikaru? What are you doing down here? Class has another half hour left. Come back after the final bell.”

Hikaru lit up in a genuine smile, he joked with Spock in secret that that was how he got to do whatever he liked. “Sorry nurse, I was just checking in on Spock. I’m going back now.”

Before Hikaru could leave, Spock said, “I’ll inform you more of the events today tomorrow, Hikaru.”

Hikaru nodded curtly and took off, water bottle in hand.

 

Spock went home after being patched up and scolded by the nurse, ‘for being so careless as to fall down the stairs- at your age!’ He was picked up by his mother who had worriedly babied him the whole way home. 

“What happened?” Amanda asked shrilly, her face pale at the sight of Spock’s bruises in the afternoon sunlight.

“I merely fell down the stairs, mother.”

“Do we need to take you from that school?” Amanda asked more quietly, obviously not believing her son’s lie.

Spock shook his head and remained silent on the ride home.  
After falling onto his own bed and attempting to calm his mind for a few minutes, Spock devoted all of his attention on the mysterious sandy haired boy, Jim Kirk. He was who Leonard was talking about when he had acquired his books. The street was busy outside his window, and the sounds were surprisingly pleasant. So brave of him, to fight off Donovan. Not to mention illogical, as Donovan was clearly larger and more at advantage, yet this fact seemed to make Jim seem more noble. He was almost terrifying, the way he calmly choked the boy. Jim had told him about it very nonchalantly on their way to the nurse, as if it were nothing. Was he doing something similar the day Leonard ran off? As the sun went down, Spock felt a sudden chill. And Jim was strong, supporting Spock’s weight, basically carried him, to the nurse's office. The stars on Spock’s ceiling were beautiful. Spock eventually fell asleep, his last conscious thought was of Jim saying his name.


	3. Coffee, Conversations, and More

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm slowly realizing that most of this fic so far is in Jimbo's view... my bad...  
> anyhoo, this round we got Jim, Spock, and Sulu somehow ending up in the middle. Nyota is mama bear. There are notes passed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy 4/20 !! It's grandpa George Takei's birthday today !!  
> Next week's update is probs gon be shorter because I have several finals coming up as well as I have an art portfolio due soon... RIP me... but I really hope you guys are liking this so far! and if you have any ideas or anythin I would love those (bc tbh after a while I don't have much of a plot...)!! Sometimes I wish I could put in commenting like in google docs so I can tell you stuff while you read but alas... also as alllwaaaays shout out to my mf megan who keeps me writing and laughing all the way
> 
> me: they should be friends for a while before they get crushes/together  
> also me: WAIT HAVING FRIENDS YOU DONT HAVE A CRUSH ON WHAT IS THAT NEVER HEARD OF HER

The next day was Friday, and Jim got out of bed even earlier than normal. He brushed his teeth, combed his hair, and put on his uniform over his favorite old t-shirt. He was out the door before Frank even woke up, with a strawberry pop tart in his mouth. He jogged to school, but restless because no one was there, he headed off to the nearby coffee shop. 

“Mornin’ Jim!” Gaila called from behind the counter. She had her curly red hair pulled under her cap, one curl hanging loose over her forehead, contrasting nicely against her loud green eyeshadow. Jim and her were close friends, she had just graduated the previous year and was now working through college. The shop was mostly empty, save a few elderly people sipping their tea.

“Gail, my favorite person!” Jim called, leaning over the counter and taking a deep whiff of the pleasant coffee smell of the shop.

“I was beginning to think you had forgotten about me Jimmy,” Gaila said with a fake pout, tossing the towel she was using to dry off a blender with over her shoulder. She shifted her weight onto one foot and set her hand on an empty paper cup stack. “What can I do for ya?”

Jim looked up at the sign with mock interest, as he knew that Gaila had his usual order memorized. After ten minutes, Jim was out the door with coffee trays in hand, leaving Gaila with promises to hang out sometime.

Jim bought one extra coffee than his normal amount, plain black with no cream or sugar. Back at school, he gave all of the coffees away, except the plain one.   
Most of his rugby friends were in the cafeteria, all used to waking up early for practice so they just got up at the same time anyways, even on days when there wasn’t practice at all. They all thanked Jim repeatedly as he dispersed the coffees, and whined when Jim said he had to go. One guy, Ricky, even blew him a kiss, which Jim pretended to catch, then pocket with a grin.

 

Jim found Leonard in his car in the parking lot, furiously trying to finish his bio homework.

“Aw, sweetheart it’s not even game day!” Leonard sarcastically gushed when he saw Jim and his coffee, rolling down his window to take the cup Jim offered. Caramel cappuccino, heavy on the caramel.

“I know, I’m perfect.” Jim said, shrugging his backpack into a more comfortable position.

“D’you wanna hop in? I got the heater on.” Leonard moved over to clear his worksheets and textbooks off of his passenger seat. 

“Nah, I still got some coffees to deliver.” Jim held up his last cup holder, with three cups remaining.  
Leonard give him a scrutinizing but playful look.

“You know, if you didn’t always get everyone and their mother coffees you could have had a car by now.”

Jim rolled his eyes and patted the roof of Leonard’s car affectionately.

“Someday Bonesey. Anyways, I’ll catch you later okay?”

Jim heard Leonard mutter something to himself as he walked away, making him laugh. 

 

Jim found Sulu in his ‘office’. It was a small corner cubicle that was supposed to be for the assistant secretary, if the school had one. Instead, Sulu got it as an honorary kind of thing, since he did so much for the office. He bought very small sparkling lights and had hung it around the walls of the cubicle, and had pictures of his mom and his friends hanging.

“Sulu, my man.” Jim said, spreading his arms wide in greeting, getting Sulu’s attention from his computer screen.

“Is it game day or did I miss something?” Sulu asked, smiling back and giving Jim a quick hug before sitting back down at his desk with his drink in hand. He was the only guy on the team who preferred hot cocoa over coffee, and he had explained a while back that it was because caffeine made him tired for some reason.

“Aw, come on, can’t a guy just love his teammates? Besides we have practice today. Why not?” Jim asked, setting the cupholder down on the edge of Sulu’s desk and his backpack next to Sulu’s. “yBones said the same thing to me.”

“Who’s the last one for?” Sulu asked, pointing at the black lidded cup. 

“Me?” Jim asked, laughing sort of nervously.

Sulu pointed at the other cup, the one with a clear dome lid and extra whip. “No, the girly chocolate frappuccino, _that_ one is yours.”

Sometimes Sulu was too smart for his own damn good. Jim shrugged as nonchalantly as he could and said, “Fine, you caught me. It’s for a guy named Spock. You know him?” Jim mentally prayed that he didn’t, but he could see by the way Sulu’s face changed at Spock’s name that he did.

“Know him? He’s one of my best friends. But what has a quiet kid like Spock done to deserve the attention of my captain?” Sulu twisted back and forth in his old office chair, sipping at his drink. Sulu’s expressions were typically easy to read for Jim, but there was something different in the way his eyes sparkled now.

“I can have friends outside of the team too, you know,” Jim said teasingly, not sure if Spock had told him about what had happened yesterday. Sulu said nothing more and after he said goodbye, Jim headed off.

 

He held onto Spock’s cup as he walked through the campus, looking for him. Every corner he turned, Jim hoped he would see him. Every time the crowd split, Jim expected Spock there. But he wasn't. Jim gave up, and went to his locker. He grabbed for the textbook he would need for the period, and a small paper slipped out of his locker and onto the floor. 

Jim snatched it up from the ground and opened it up, reading: "I wish to thank you properly in person today for your assistance yesterday, Jim Kirk. Meet me by my locker, it's #492 in the west hall after the school day has ended, if it is convenient. -Spock." 

Jim smiled inwardly and tucked the note into his pocket. On his way to his dance class, he passed by Spock’s locker and left the coffee there, with "from Jim" written on the white paper cup paired with a smiley face.

 

\---  
Spock, not unlike Jim, woke up uncharacteristically early. He was dressed and finishing his regular bowl of oatmeal just as his father was waking up. There was barely any light outside, the sun had not risen yet. 

"Son, what occasion has brought you up at this hour?" The man asked, setting his laptop down onto the table and opening it up. 

Spock furrowed his eyebrows and asked, "What are you implying Father?"

"I was merely curious as you are never up at this hour" His father replied cooly, beginning to type.

"It is unimportant." Spock said, putting his bowl into the sink and rinsed it carefully. 

"Is this about someone?" Sarek asked, quirking an eyebrow. Spock knew what he was suggesting, through his eyebrow raise and his inflection on the word ‘someone’.

"I have informed you that I am working beyond such emotional concepts." Spock attempted to keep irritation from his voice. 

"Be more specific?" Sarek asked, adopting an innocent expression. 

"Romantics! It is statistically improbable for a young relationship to last beyond high school and anything but a long lasting relationship will lead to emotional turmoil and therefore disinterests me." Spock finished rinsing the bowl and smacked it into the drying rack harder than he intended.

"So..... I may conclude that it is someone then?" 

Spock could feel himself blush.

"...affirmative."

Sarek leaned back in his chair with almost a smug smile on his face.

"What?"

"I am merely fascinated to watch this play out."

"Father, nothing will happen. Our social circles don’t… coincide." 

Sarek did not respond again, but Spock quickly left the house before he could press him for more questions anyways.

 

Spock tried to drive slowly to school but could not help moving slightly faster than he usually would, hoping to see Jim. Unknowingly, he arrived ten minutes before Jim would have even stepped on campus. Spock headed over to the office after he parked his car.   
Hikaru sat at his desk, pouring over his physics homework. He had one earbud in, but took it out when he noticed Spock.

“Hikaru, may I request a favor?”

"Anything man. What is it?" 

"Jim Kirk."

Hikaru paused, and looked over Spock as if he were checking if Spock were sick.

“Aaand... what about him?”

Spock felt awkward then, and cast his eyes to the ground. He stood very rigidly, and tried not to stammer when he spoke.

“I need his locker number.”

Hikaru kept a steady and curious gaze on Spock. “Aaand this is for…?”

Spock was not one to do this, but he did owe Hikaru an explanation for yesterday, and he trusted Hikaru, so he told him everything. How Jim helped him, how Spock couldn’t get him out of his head, how he wanted to see him more and thank him. Hikaru listened intently, keeping his reactions minimal. He eventually turned from Spock, telling him to keep talking, as he typed something into his computer.

When Spock finished talking, Hikaru said, "Technically, I shouldn’t give you his locker number, but since I know he won’t mind, and since we are friends, I’ll tell you.” He turned himself in his office back to face Spock dramatically.

Spock was now taken aback. “You are simply going to help me? I must admit I feared you would disapprove or look down on my emotions.” 

Hikaru’s eyebrows knitted together in an obvious look of confusion.

“Feel weird about it I mean.”

Hikaru shook his head with a small exasperated smile. 

“Spock I’m your friend, I’m supposed to support you. There's no reason for me to interfere with you wanting to spend more time with Jim. Besides, You and Jim would make a cute couple.”

If it were possible, Spock would have stiffened more.

“That is not my intention, I assure you.”

Hikaru shrugged, a knowing smile on his face.

“Good friends then,” Hikaru offered, disbelief clear in his voice.

"Thank you for your assistance." Spock said, turning away.

“Get ‘im tiger!” Hikaru called after Spock.

 

Jim's locker was in the dressing rooms for gym, these lockers maroon with a large locker on top and a small cubic locker below for gym clothes. Spock assumed athletes automatically got lockers in these rooms yet wondered as to why Hikaru had a locker out in the senior square then. 

Spock quickly jotted down a note, and shoved it into the lockers vents. He then made his way to his first period, physics.  
During his passing period, Spock went to his locker to put his physics textbook away and found a small paper cup with "from Jim" written on it. He couldn't help the blush that had crept into his cheeks, and he quickly grabbed his book and shoved it into his bag with one hand, Jim's coffee in the other. He didn't try to sip it until he had gotten to his next period, and when he did, he almost spat it out. Black coffee, no sugar, no cream.

‘Does Jim normally drink coffee like this?’ Spock questioned, inspecting the cup. 

Not to mention it was ice cold already. But regardless, somehow over the course of his class Spock had drunk the entire cup, and ended up nibbling at the edge of the paper cup as he worked.  
Spock assumed that this meant Jim had gotten his letter, and drummed his fingers impatiently against his thigh all day as he went from class to class. 

 

His friend, Nyota Uhura, did not miss this fact. Her hair was still tied in a messy bun from their shared dance class and she wore grey joggers over her uniform. 

She had no time to ask him about it in dance,so instead she looked at him over her calculus work the next period and asked, “What’s eating you?”

Spock looked around, and then looked back at Nyota earnestly. “If I am not mistaken, I am not currently being consumed.”

Nyota smiled slightly at that, and rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean. What’s going on?” Her eyes flicked to Spock’s black eye, and her eyes narrowed dangerously. “Is Donovan bothering you again today? That boy is going to lose his life if he keeps this up.”

Spock held up his hands. “No, no. It’s Jim Kirk.”

Nyota perked up at the mention of Jim, and her expression became pleasant again.

“Mmm, and what about him?” Her immaculately lined eyes were fixed on Spock in curiousity, her unit circle all but forgotten.

“He was the one who helped me when Donovan attacked me yesterday. I plan on meeting with him after school in order to thank him, but I cannot help but feel a desire to initiate a friendship with him as well. He has shown an intriguing character I take interest in.”

Nyota shrugged. “Kirk is a really friendly guy, that makes sense. I’m glad someone was there for you yesterday,” Nyota said, fixing her hair. 

Nyota had known Jim for a longer time, and curiosity ate at Spock. “What do you know about him?”

Nyota grinned, leaning back and stretching. “I’ve known him since he was a little kid. He’s the captain of the rugby team here. Computer geek, ate a worm in second grade. His mom’s in the army or something I think. He asked me to our 8th grade graduation dance and I totally shot him down.” She laughed and shook her head. 

“Why did you reject him?” Spock asked.

Nyota shrugged. “He was really childish back then. Always doing dumb shit, you know? I bet he’s cooled down at least a little bit though…hopefully.”

 

Spock listened intently to Nyota as she spoke about Jim, and when the glorious final bell rang, Spock was up and out of his seat bag already packed heart pounding and palms sweating. 

‘It is illogical’, he thought to himself, ‘to be so nervous. You are simply going to thank him, that is all. You likely won’t see him again after this...besides, as you told father, your social circles dont mix much. What is the harm in merely saying thank you?’ 

Thoughts rolled around inside of Spock’s head, upsetting his stomach as he arrived at his locker. Students passed by, Spock scanning the area occasionally, hoping to see Jim. One minute. Two. Five minutes had passed and the students were all gone, when Spock sighed and opened up his locker to put his things away. When he did, a small green post-it note floated out of his locker. 

Spock picked it up and read what the scribbled writing said: "I got detention today- come to room 401 I'll be there -JK"

Spock felt a sudden pressure ease off his shoulders as he went up hallway corridors and a flight of stairs to room 401. It was inside the oldest building of the school, and the walls were lined with past student’s photographs and educational posters. The tables were similar to the science labs, with higher up black tables and silver barstools.  
He quietly opened the door, and made eye contact across the silent room with Jim. He was sitting towards the back of the classroom and to the right, a notebook open in front of him. Spock slipped across the quiet classroom, the detention teacher not looking up from her romance book at her desk, and sat down in a chair adjacent to Jim’s. 

Jims mouth was in a wide smile and he mouthed "hi"

"Hello." Spock mouthed back,"why are you in detention?" 

Jim held up a finger as a 'wait' gesture and then pulled out a piece of scratch paper from his messy bag and started scribbling: "my art teacher said that there’s 5 feet in a yard... Me telling him he was wrong apparently was fiendish thing to do so he put me here."

Spock quirked an eyebrow in amusement and Jim held up his hands in resignation. 

"Sorry," Jim whispered. 

Spock replied at the same decibel, "it is of no consequence." 

Spock and Jim then sat in silence, Jim writing "my teacher is Sensitive™ and I was right" repeatedly on his paper (since his punishment was the archaic method of writing sentences) while Spock fiddled with a pencil, attempting to mentally recall his physics notes from earlier.   
Finally, the teacher stood up and dismissed the students. Spock stood and waited as Jim shoved his things into his bag. 

 

Once out in the hallway, Jim said, "I'm sorry I had to leave the note and about detention. I would've texted you but I don't have your number yet."

The yet was rushed and almost overlooked but Spock held onto it like a lifeline. 

"Do you want it?" 

"Yeah, kinda."

Spock paused, which made Jim smile widely.

"Did you forget it?" Jim guessed.

"Actually, yes. I do not typically keep my phone with me."

"That's okay, here's mine-" Jim said, and he pulled a sharpie out of his pocket, grabbing Spocks hand with his other. The unprecedented contact made Spock bristle, but only for a moment before inexplicably relaxing into the touch. 

Jim turned Spock’s palm upright, and pulled off the cap with his teeth.  
‘That is... something’ Spock thought, feeling heat in his cheeks and shifting his feet awkwardly at the sight.   
Jim wrote his number down, and Spock had to bite down on his cheek so hard that he swore he tasted blood because the pen tip definitely tickled.   
After he was done, Jim held onto Spocks hand for a minute second longer than necessary, but then dropped it after realizing how weird he probably was being. 

Spock shoved his hand into his pocket, warm and abnormally sweaty. "Thank you..." 

Jim smiled at him again, and it made Spock lose his train of thought for a moment.

“My purpose. I wished to thank you. I deeply appreciated your assistance yesterday.”

Jim shrugged like it was nothing.

“It was not the first time I have been in a physical altercation, but it was the first time anyone has ever come to my side.” Spock continued. He usually did not say things unless he had it planned out in his mind beforehand, but talking with Jim felt pleasantly simple and natural. 

Jim’s eyes widened in shock at his statement, then had a very grim look on his face. “No one deserves to be beaten like that. Especially not when he was so much bigger than you and you did nothing to deserve it. Are you okay by the way?”

Spock had almost forgotten about his black eye, and raised his unmarked hand to brush his fingers against it. “Okay is a relative statement, Jim. But, yes I am sufficiently healthy and I do not possess any permanent damage.”

“You know what Donovan said isn’t true right? You aren’t a freak. And I like you. And I know a lot of other people do as well- just ignore the shit he says.” Jim was looking in Spock’s eyes and saying this sincerely, and Spock felt warm inside because of it.

“Thank you. Since what Donovan stated was not backed by valid data, I had also concluded to disregard the ‘shit’ he had said to me.” Spock couldn’t help but give a small smile.

Jim patted Spock's shoulder and left it there for a moment before he noticed the clock on the wall.

He barked, "Shit! It's 4!? I'm going to be late for practice!" Jim ran down the hall, calling, “Sorry, later, bye Spock!!” leaving Spock alone, his hand still burning in his pocket.


	4. Intermission I: Wishbone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It has been so busy guys I am so sorry this chapter is so short! I have an ap portfolio to finish and ap tests next week... I might not be able to get the next chapter up on my usual day because I am going to be so busy :-0 please stick with me though I will take this back up obviously when the tests are over!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is meant to be a backstory on how Spocky got his dance in the spring show!! this takes place literally at the end of his first week of school, pre jim n pre fight!! please enjoy my loves !! also thank you to those who comment on this, you guys really keep me going and looking forward to posting these chapters <3

“Happy Friday, my children. In four weeks we have our Spring dance show,” The dance teacher, Mrs. Dillon said, in her usual dreamy voice. She held onto the fringes of her thin cardigan, swaying slightly. Her eyes scanned her students affectionately, before she continued, “We have up to 10 group dances and 6 open slots for solos. Seniors get to apply for solos first, but if you’re an underclassman, prepare an audition dance just in case, okay? Nothing is ever set in stone. Now, auditions will be in the small gym next week on Thursday. My room is always free at lunch if you would like to practice there, but it’s first come first serve. Once we have all of our slots filled, class time will be used solely for practicing.”

Spock listened with keen interest, looking at his folded legs. Nyota was his class’ teacher aide, and she gave him a nudge.

“You should audition. If anyone could get in from the underclassmen, it would be you.” Her voice was a low whisper as the teacher moved on to talk about the recital she had attended a few months back.

“Nyota, I am deeply flattered, yet I am tentative about doing so.”

“Why?” Nyota scoffed, before she continued, “From what I’ve seen in the class you have real potential. Come on, you should give it a shot.”

Spock interlaced his fingers and stared at them. “I admit I do have the basis of an idea for my audition piece. Would you be interested in practicing together so you may give me corrections?” He could not help but feel slightly nervous.

Nyota held up a thumbs up, and Spock inclined his head in acknowledgement. 

 

Outside of class and after they had changed from their dance clothes back to their uniforms, Spock and Nyota met up again. 

“You busy after school?” Nyota asked, fixing her collar as they walked together to their next class.

“Negative.”

“Perfect! I was thinking we could use the dance room then. I know Dillon said lunch, but it will be a lot less busy after school. If you're ready I mean.” 

“That sounds reasonable. Thank you for your assistance.” Spock found himself thinking that if luck were real, he would be considered very lucky to have Nyota in his life. She had only known him for less than a week, but had already proven herself as a true friend and taken him under her wing.

“No worries! Anyway,” She said raising her hand in a wave, “see ya in class Spock! I gotta go meet up with Christy.” She went the opposite direction, to meet with the blonde girl named Christy, who did not wear her sweater and kept her white sleeves rolled up her forearms.

Spock watched for a moment as Nyota pulled her into a tight hug, and began walking Christy to her class, one arm around her shoulders. He turned, feeling like he had just intruded upon a private moment.

A tall student passed Spock and bumped his shoulder roughly. 

“Watch it, freak .”

Spock observed that the student smelled really badly.

 

Spock got to the dance room and was already dressed and stretching before Nyota did. Dillon left her room unlocked while she was at a parent meeting until 5 so he got into the classroom with ease. Spock appreciated the way the dance room calmed him, the clean smells and the nice lights. 

“Sorry I'm late,” Nyota said slightly breathlessly as she walked in the door, now clad in a loose white tee and black leggings. She took off her shoes at the door, and set her bag down in the corner next to the door. She set her hair into a ponytail, and sat next to Spock. She reached forward and grabbed her feet, pulling her head down toward her legs slowly. Spock mirrored the stretch, then did a butterfly position.

Once they were ready Spock described his dance, including how he wanted the dance to flow. He had thought he had a solid idea of how he wanted it but when Nyota asked a simple question, he gave pause.

“What kind of music are you thinking?”

“...It is a mostly ballet-style dance, so logically--” Spock began, but he started thinking. “But the feel of it wouldn’t work with what I’m going for. But I don’t want a pop song, that makes it all feel artificial…”His eyebrows drew together in thought.

Nyota smiled and cocked her head, watching the gears grinding in Spock’s mind. “That’s okay. For now, we can use this song, it should fit. We just need to have a song so we can figure out some specific measurements.” While she spoke, she hooked her headphones up to her phone, and passed one earbud over to Spock. 

Upon giving Nyota’s suggested song a listen, Spock fell in love with it, and she was right, it did fit beautifully. He was glad that she had so easily understood his goal.

They sat there together on the floor of the dance room and listened to the song repeatedly for an hour or two, writing out ideas for what to do where. They used leaflets from Nyota’s binder, differently colored papers littering the floor with notes and counts written on them.

“I dunno if you have choreo’d a dance before- but I want you to know that by the end of the recital you are gonna hate this song.” Nyota said, and to that Spock gave a light laugh.

 

As they were getting up to leave and Spock placed his work into his bag, Nyota said, “I’m thinking-- and hear me out Spock-- this piece is brilliant, really. Absolutely phenomenal and beyond your expected skill level.” 

Spock steeled himself, as he all too well knew that there would be a ‘but’ coming. 

“But I think this would be even cooler if it was a group dance. I wanna get Jenna- the pretty senior with the white blonde hair? Yeah her, and three others in on this. If you pitch this right to Dillon this could be one of our main pieces!” There was a spark of excitement in her eyes, and Spock felt his eyes widen in shock.

“Me? Choreograph- and lead- a dance in our recital? Now, Nyota, you are getting too excited I believe.” He had to strain to keep his voice calm. “I have only been here for a week, after all.”

“I don’t care, this is really good stuff. I know Dillon will love this- please? Please Spock, just do this for me? Just pitch it to her, that’s all,” Nyota clasped her hands in a beg, her smile wide on her face.

There seemed to be no swaying her, so he decided the most logical thing to do would be to comply.

 

Monday morning, Spock wrung his hands. He was aware it was a nervous tic of his, and yet today he decided to not try and stop it. Nyota gave Spock another thumbs up in encouragement as he approached Mrs. Dillon’s desk.

“Mrs. Dillon?” Spock asked, as other students were warming up.

Dillon was pulling her hair into a new bun, dissatisfied with her old one. She held her hair tie between her teeth, but she still asked, “How can I help ya, dear?” 

“I had a dance I wanted to try out- but it’s a group dance.”

Dillon finished her bun, and looked at Spock with interest. “You've only been here a week, and you already wish to choreograph your own dance?”

“I understand that I am new, but I implore you to allow me to explain.”

Before he could continue, Dillon said, “'nd insistent.” An admiring smile blossomed on her face. “You're quite proactive, 'ppreciate that. You don't have to worry, I'll listen. Show me what you're thinking.”

At the end of the period, “Wishbone, by Spock” was written in red on the whiteboard, the first official dance of the Spring recital. Under it, was the names Spock, Jenna, Macey, Lexi and Jacklynn written. Spock could not help the stabbing feeling of pride that burst forward from himself as he took one last glance at that board before leaving the class to get changed.


	5. Homeward after Victory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim has a victory, Spock meets the rugby family, and Jim meets Amanda. Spock just can't stop wondering one thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'ALL MY LIFE HAS BEEN SO HECTIC THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE! I will now be back on a regular schedule for posting don't you worry! I have a lot more time to write now whew... My exams are over and I feel so free... Anyways thank you to all of you who are still reading this, commenting and leaving kudos I love you all. As always Megan is the best for reading this and she found (3) three plot holes before I posted this. She says hi to all of you. Love you guys, see you next chapter!

Spock drove home swiftly after school, burst through his front door, and went straight to his room. Spock had only two possible looks for his room: neat to a t, or the aftermath of a tornado.   
Today was a tornado day, as much as he hated a mess. Spock flung his bag onto his bed and got down on his hands and knees, tossing papers aside carelessly, trying to find his phone that he swore he had packed when they moved.  
Finally, he found it, a sleek black phone with a sudden new purpose. He added Jim to his contacts, reading off the already fading sharpie on his palm. He thought about sending a message immediately, but then he remembered Jim was probably still at practice. Additionally, the thought of seeming overeager, like texting Jim was the only thing on his mind, (nevermind that it was) made him shudder. Thus, Spock sat down with his homework and decided to wait.

 

\---  
Jim and his rugby team had a strenuous practice, and when he got home he flopped down on his bed, not bothering to shower first, kicking himself for missing his chance to score in their practice game. Frank had already drunk himself to sleep, so Jim at least didn’t have to worry about him. He pulled out his phone and unlocked it: no messages.   
‘Maybe Spock couldn't find his phone’, part of Jim hoped. ‘maybe he just doesn't want to talk to you’, another part of Jim questioned.   
He spent a few minutes scrolling through his messages before he started falling asleep. Jim sighed and dropped the phone onto his stomach, which tickled when it vibrated suddenly. Jim snatched the phone up again immediately and looked at the message from the unknown number:

"Hello, may I inquire as to how your practice went? -Spock"

Jim couldn’t help his smile and hurriedly typed a response.

"terrible, totally ruined my day. but i feel better now -jk"

"Oh? And why is that? -Spock"

"because you finally texted me !! i was worried you didn't like me or something -jk"

"I like you very much, I wanted to wait until your game was over. -Spock"

That text made Jim curl his toes a little. ‘Don’t read too much into it,’ Jim reprimanded himself.

"thats really considerate of you, thank you. how have you been? donovan hasnt bothered you has he? -jk"

Jim had never signed a text before in his life, but he continued to do so, and Spock did as well, becoming sort of an inside joke.  
For the next three hours, Spock and Jim texted each other relentlessly, neither one being able to end the conversation. Finally, at 11, Spock told Jim they both needed sleep. This made Jim laugh but he didn't bother saying anything to Spock other than a goodnight. 

 

\---  
Saturday, Spock woke up at around 9 with a good morning text from Jim sent at 6. Worried he was texting back too late, Spock sent a hurried ‘good morning’ back. The reply was almost instant. 

"i was wondering if you would like to come to my game today? im hoping we are gonna do fantastic today and i would love the support! -jk”

"I would be delighted. -Spock"

Not wanting to go alone but knowing Hikaru was also on the rugby team, Spock invited Nyota to go along with him. She accepted since she didn't need to go into her work that day, and Spock picked her up at her house.  
The two arrived early, and watched the team warm up. Jim saw Spock easily since the bleachers were mostly empty, waved, and ran over to say hi.

 

He said semi-breathlessly, "I'm so glad you could make it!" before running back to his team. 

“I’m here too!” Nyota called out after Jim, who apparently didn’t hear her.

“Nyota, I am fairly certain Jim was addressing the both of us.” Spock said, not taking his eyes off of Jim’s back.

“Please,” Nyota said, sliding a pair of sunglasses on and stretching her legs out before her. “He only had eyes for you.”

\---  
"Is that your new boyfriend?” Bones asked, already sweaty but ready for the game with his usual gruff energy.

Praying Spock didn't hear that, Jim replied "No, he's just my friend."

Bones nudged Jim with his elbow and waggled his eyebrows. Jim pushed Bones away playfully and looked up to see Spock in the bleachers. He was listening to Uhura, looking at her as she waved her hands, talking about something.

“I gave him his books when he first got here. Hasn’t been here long.” Bones said, cracking his neck from side to side.

Jim started shaking out his limbs, encouraging his teammates to stretch with him. He knew they were all still down about the night before’s stressful practice, and knew it was his duty as his captain to keep their spirits up.

“Yeah, I know,” Jim replied to Bones. He studied how Spock leaned in toward Uhura as she spoke, and a thought hit him. “D’you think him and Uhura are…?” He left his question vague, but Bones understood, shaking his head as he pulled one arm against his chest.

“Nah. I think she has a thing for someone else anyway.” Bones didn’t elaborate, but Jim didn’t bother to ask, distracted by the surprising amount of relief he felt.

Jim dared another look back at Spock and met a steady gaze, which made him avert his eyes blushingly. He instead focused on his coach who began lecturing his team. 

 

Coach Pike was pretty old, but was light on his feet and about as high energy as his athletes.

“Alright boys. This isn't do or die. Right?” He paused dramatically as the opposing team came walking onto the field. He followed them with stern eyes through his radiator sunglasses.

“If looks could kill we wouldn’t have a game today,” a player muttered under his breath, and Jim had to stifle a laugh.

“WRONG!” Pike barked suddenly, making everyone on the team jump. “We got our asses kicked by these guys last year. We fought hard, but we need to fight harder. These guys have really good defense to we need to focus on outsmarting them. We are smart, but we need to be smarter. Jimbo, I’m counting on you to keep us on track, alright?”

“Yes coach,” Jim said, cracking the knuckles on his left hand, then his right. 

“What are we going to do today?” Pike asked, putting his hand in the center of the group. 

The players did the same, and all yelled out “WIN!” before breaking.

 

Jim never heard anything from Spock the entire game, he couldn’t help but keep an ear out for it. He definitely got an earful of Bones’ parents, his dad’s bellow heard by people in Australia, probably. Nevertheless, Jim and his team crushed their opponents and at the end of the game Bones with another player named Kane picked Jim up onto their shoulders, crying out their captain’s talents. 

Jim smiled at Spock in the crowd, mildly embarrassed. Spock gave Jim an awkward thumbs up and a slight smile, and it filled Jim up with more joy than the win did. 

Bones and Kane took Jim all the way to the locker room, dumping him down on the cold tile. Their mates were all coming in, still exhilarated and yelling amongst themselves as they started changing out of their jerseys.

Jim yanked his own locker open, glad to get his sweaty clothes off him. Once he was changed, he stood on one of the benches and cupped his hands around his mouth.

“Once we are all done! Victory lunch at Danni’s! Fuckin’ great job today guys!” He called, his voice ringing in the room over the voices.

“Don’t forget to tap the lucky lockers! Thank them for our victory today!” Scotty called, tapping his own locker three times after shutting it. It was a tradition that started out as a superstition of a senior from the year before, who always tapped his locker for good luck before a game. Somehow while making fun of him, the team assimilated the practice of tapping one’s own locker any time you touched it to appease the lockers.

Jim had forgotten to tap his own, so he quickly stepped off of the bench and tapped his, fingers tapping against the cold hard metal a few times before he shouldered his bag.

 

\---  
Spock had no time to talk to Jim in person, whisked away by his mates, so Spock took Nyota to tea then home, texting Jim instead. 

"Great job today, Jim. -Spock"

"thanks, im fucking tired though, but you wanna come with me and the team? we are goin for some burgers -jk"

"I'd rather not, I wouldn’t want to impose. -Spock"

"oooh come on Spock, don't be shy, and hey, ill pay for you! -jk"

There was some anxiety in Spock’s stomach. Another text came in.

"pretty please? -jk"

"Alright, fine. -Spock"

"k, just send me your address and ill pick you up! -jk"

Six minutes later, Spock was outside of his house, waiting for Jim. Two minutes later, Jim rolled up, in a old and beat up topless car. 

"Where are your teammates?" Spock inquired. 

"You didn't think I was driving all of them, did you? I borrowed Scotty’s car so I could pick you up!" Jim was downright jovial as he patted the seat beside him. 

Spock slid into the car easily, his hands folded in his lap. The car ride wasn't silent, although Spock was, as Jim talked the whole way, about anything, about his day, his classes, his favorite burger. Spock listened intently the entire time, his eyes focused on Jim too. The boys hair was flapping in the wind and his eyes were bright and attentive to the road ahead. Jim’s jersey was abandoned, he had changed into a light gray shirt and worn blue jeans.

“Can you text one of the boys for me Spock?” Jim asked, lightly tossing his phone over to Spock not taking his eyes off the road once.

“Who would you prefer?” Spock asked, catching the phone with ease.

“Passcode 2666, and uhh… Scotty probably.”

Spock unlocked the phone and scrolled through Jim’s contact list. “I do not see him.”

“OH!” Jim burst out laughing as they pulled up to a stoplight. “He’s ‘laddie’ in my phone.”

“You have interesting contact names, Jim.” He opened up the text conversation.

“It’s because that’s his first word to me. I usually do that, I make my friends contacts inside jokes or traits I’ll remember. Anyway, tell him what you want so he can order for us. Put me down for a burger- no tomato- and fries. Oh fuck, and a milkshake. I would kill for a milkshake right now.”

“Hamburger, no tomato, and what kind of milkshake?”

“Vanilla sounds stellar.”

Spock typed out a text, and got a very fast reply. He read aloud to Jim, “He asked, ‘Who the fuck is this?’”, which only made Jim laugh harder.

“Don’t reply, hopefully we can freak the guys out.” His grin was wide, and Spock set his phone down.

 

The restaurant they were meeting the team at wasn’t far, and wasn’t pretty. Danni’s Diner was a small and very run-down looking place, with faded white paint on the walls and a broken neon sign in the window. Jim held the door open for Spock then lead him to the back where the team had pulled a few tables together, talking and yelling and laughing together.

“Jimmy, we just ordered, who the hell was that on yer phone?” Scotty asked, catching his keys as Jim tossed them over to him. Scotty’s accent always got thicker when he was beat after a game, and Jim could see the curiosity on Spock’s face.

“That guy is Scotty. He’s a senior, and newer to the school, like you.” Jim pointed at Scotty, who had just taken a large gulp of his soda.

“Aye, that’d be me. Transfer from Dublin!” 

“And this is Spock, he was the one texting you.” Jim threw an arm around Spock, and the team all said hello. 

Jim motioned at each individual team member, saying “And you’ve met Bones already, Sulu, have you met Chekov?” Jim pointed at Chekov in the back of the table, who blushed as he waved slightly at Spock. “He’s a sophomore, but pretty promising in offence no matter how twiggy he looks.”

Jim went and introduced all of his team with a pride only a captain or a mother could have as various waiters came by and served their food.

 

“Lemme pay for this!” Jim protested at the sight of Spock’s debit card. “Remember I offered!”

Spock opened his mouth to rebuke but Jim looked at him with playfully stern eyes. Spock sighed and began putting his card away, causing Jim to make a triumphant noise while he passed the waitress his own card.

“See you guys! Great day again!” Jim called, receipt in hand before Spock and him left.

 

“Now,” Jim said, stepping outside with Spock feeling the warm afternoon air hit him, “how the hell do we get home?” He started laughing at himself, partially out of embarrassment and pure amusement.

“Perhaps I should have informed you that I do own my own car.” Spock suggested helpfully, mouth quirking into a small smile as Jim burst into a new fit of giggles.

“Yeah,” Jim said wiping one eye, “That couldda been helpful. Nah, but do you mind a walk? I’d ask the other guys but most have other plans after this…”

“I do not mind a walk at all, but would you not prefer to accompany your friends?” 

Jim walked over to Scotty’s car and shoved his stuff into his bag, slinging it over his shoulder.

“Psch, they wouldn’t mind. Besides! You are a lot more important.”

 

The two decided Spock’s house was closer, so they headed there. The early spring heat pressed close on them but they did not seem to mind, simply talking as they walked along.

“So what’s your family like?” Jim asked, pausing to pick up a stone from the sidewalk they were walking on.

Spock did not comment on it, but watched Jim pocket the red rock. “My mother is an author, and my father is an ambassador.”

Jim raised his eyebrows, and said, “Shit that’s cool. What does your mom write? Am I gonna meet them when we get to your house?”

Jim’s interest flattered Spock, especially with how genuine it was. “My mother writes in many genres, she is a licensed psychologist as well. Some of her most popular pieces were to deal with mental health.”

Jim looked very thoughtful for a moment as they turned a corner. 

“That’s really nice of her. I mean, I know she gets paid to do that but, it’s still really helpful to others y’know? She does something that has a positive impact.”

Spock nodded, as they came to a stoplight. Jim bent to press the pedestrian button, and Spock watched cars whiz by. The trees that lined the street were all full of green, a welcome sight to Spock who was attempting in vain to not look at Jim for an extended amount of time. Why was his attention drawn that way? The sky was entirely blue, and many people passed the two, parents walking with their children or other teenagers on skateboards.

“As for your other question, my father is off on business but my mother is home, if you would like to meet her.” Spock said, following Jim’s gaze across the street to see a large border collie and it’s owner.

“I would love to,” Jim replied, looking at Spock. It was refreshing to see him outside of his school uniform. Instead he had opted for a loose tan t-shirt and black jeans. The white sneakers were a nice touch too, but Jim was sure Spock just threw on whatever and just effortlessly looked as good as he did in the sun. He also noticed Spock’s bangs weren’t brushed directly down, rather hanging loosely and slightly messy.

‘Shithead, stop staring,’ he told himself, his attention snapping back as the pedestrian light went on across the street.

They paused so Jim could pet the border collie before Spock directed them to the left, following the sidewalk for several more minutes. Compared to the drive to the diner, Jim was asking more questions than he was actually talking.

‘Crutch conversationals,’ Sam would call them. Jim tried not to think about Sam. 

“Favorite color?”

“There does not seem to be a purpose in having a favorite color, but the colors I find most aesthetically pleasing are green and yellow.” Spock watched Jim pluck a leaf from a bush as they walked by it. He paused. “However I have begun an interest in blue recently.”

Jim watched his shoes as he walked, his scuffed tennis shoes contrasting Spock’s almost brand new sneakers.

Jim fell silent for a time, Spock’s neighborhood was daunting to walk in. He didn’t have much of a chance to look at the area when he drove over, he was focused too closely on driving and the idea of Spock. 

The houses were all large, with green immaculate lawns and gardens. He thought about his own house, now glad that Spock wouldn’t see. He wondered how Spock would react, seeing the broken windows, dead and patchy grass, not to mention how the house just looked _dirty._

“Favorite bug?” Jim knew his own, moths. He liked them because they were always out at night, and Jim would pretend they kept him company on purpose.

“Bees.” Spock said, almost immediately as if he didn’t have to think about it at all.

“Yeah?” Jim asked, not sure if he was supposed to feel surprised. From what he had gleaned of Spock so far, he didn’t have many favorites at all, or at least neglected to ponder them. “Bees, huh.”

“Yes. They are extremely beneficial to our environment as well as they create honey. I greatly enjoy honey. Turn here. My house is at the end of this street.”

“Shit, this place is beautiful,” Jim said as they neared Spock’s house. It was so tall, Jim wondered if they just had high ceilings or three stories. Either way, it was worth more than Jim could even imagine.

They walked up the driveway, and Jim clutched his bag tighter. Even the double doors that led into his house seemed fancy, dark wood framing large ornate glass windows. 

Spock opened the door and Jim followed him in. 

“Mother, I am home… my friend Jim is here as well.” Somehow even as he was calling out his voice sounded soft to Jim, who’s eyes kept flicking around the house attempting to drink it all in.

The foyer was open and bathed in gold light with dark tile. To the immediate right of the front door there was another closed door, Jim guessed it led to their garage. In front of the doors on both sides a staircase wound up and together to the second floor while between those stars it led to a kitchen and a living room.

Spock immediately took off his shoes, and Jim mirrored it, not wanting to be rude, then followed Spock into his living room.

“Mother will come down when she likes, and I wish to rest before I take you home.” Spock said as he padded over to the soft brown couch and sat on it.

Jim panicked minutely upon hearing that. “I can walk home- I’m really fine…”

“Nonsense. It was hard enough to get here, besides, you just had a very difficult game. I won’t let you strain yourself more, especially In this heat.”

“You forget,” Jim said in his best teasing voice, I’ve lived in California waaay longer than you. This heat isn't anything to me.” 

He stood awkwardly in the entryway to Spock’s living room, actually feeling very hot.

Spock beckoned Jim in, and cooly replied, “Then if you are walking home then you have to at least eat and rest.”

Jim scoffed, “We just ate not even a half an hour ago, Spock!”

“And you forget,” Spock retorted as he pulled his legs underneath him, “That when you exercise or you strain yourself- come, sit- you burn calories faster and need to replenish that loss.”

Jim sat down next to Spock, realizing after he had sat down that he was very close to him. He could smell his cologne, pine fresh and almost minty. He knew he probably shouldn’t, but he wanted an excuse to touch Spock. 

“No wonder you are so thin,” Jim said, picking up Spock’s arm. He remembered the last time he held Spock’s hand and had noticed he flinched that time, but did not here, in the living room. He simply let Jim fiddle with his arm, turning it over to look at the smooth skin on the inside forearm and wrapping his hand around the slim wrist. “You think that a little walk was exercise.”

Spock didn’t reply, rather hummed as he watched Jim examine his arm. “Have you never seen a human arm before?”

Jim’s face went hot and he let go of Spock’s arm, just as they heard slippers on the floor. 

 

“Hello love. And you must be Jim!”

Amanda’s dark hair was messy and the top layer was pulled back into a small bun. She wore loose robes and a soft smile on her face. Jim stood up upon her entry, almost pushing himself away from Spock. 

“Hello ma’am, it’s nice to meet you.” He held out a hand, but she brushed past it, giving him a quick hug. She was very small like Spock was, and Jim decided he liked her immediately. 

“It’s very nice to meet you,” She said, her face was filled with emotion which was a shocking contrast to Spock’s face. She smiled as Spock stood and hugged her, and then stepped back to look at the two boys together.

“What were you two up to anyway?”

Spock began to speak, but Jim started going off excitedly. “Aw ma- can I call you ma?- We won our game today and Spock came to watch us then we went to lunch with the team! Everyone loved him, and then we walked over here.”

Amanda beamed at him as she listened, her eyes darting to look at Spock when Jim said his name. 

Spock interjected, “And Jim won’t let me drive him home, mother.” 

Amanda looked at Jim with false astonishment. “Not in this heat!” She held her hand to her heart dramatically. 

“I’m like 20 minutes, tops, away from here. It would just be a waste of gas.” Jim almost immediately sobered when Spock had mentioned driving him home, and somehow Amanda recognized that.

“At the very least we must feed you first. I made the best salad today, you two could eat it, maybe dip your feet in the pool.”

They followed Amanda to the kitchen, and Spock sat as Amanda started pulling out the salad from the fridge, expecting Jim to sit with him. Instead, he took the salad bowl from Amanda and set it on the counter. 

“Thank you honey,” Amanda said. She moved to the cabinets by the back door to grab bowls while Jim opened up a couple of drawers searching for forks. Spock observed for a few seconds, before he stood and opened the right drawer for Jim.

Jim took two forks and Amanda passed Spock the bowls, filled with multicolored greens and vegetables. 

“Thank you!” Jim said, and he followed Spock outside. 

The white concrete was warm, and led a path surrounded by plants to a wide swimming pool. Spock sat beside the shallow end, setting the bowls down next to him. Jim set the forks in their respective bowls, and together the two started to roll up their pants.

“Man, that feels awesome,” Jim said as he set his feet into the pool. “It’s so cold.”

Spock quirked an eyebrow. “I had thought that since you were more used to California heat, it wouldn’t be that nice.”

Jim laughed, his head tipping back slightly. “Just because I am used to it doesn’t mean I’m immune!” He paused, looking at the deep end of the pool for a moment. “But touche,” he said, turning to look at Spock, finding him gazing at him.

“What?”

Spock shook his head, and looked away. “Nothing. I apologize.” He picked up one bowl and passed it over to Jim.

“Nah, you’re good.” He took a bite from his salad. “Shit, this is so good. It’s like you guys just picked it it’s so fresh.”

“Most of them were from the store, we just planted our vegetables so they won’t be ready for a while.”

Jim looked at the patch of dirt by the back fence, and pointed there. “Is that where they are?”

Spock nodded, having just taken a large bite. The two sat in companionable silence for a time, until Spock decided he couldn’t get the question off of his mind.

“...Why won’t you let me take you home?”

Suddenly Spock was severely aware of the birds chirping nearby, and the sudden loss of the gentle wave noises Jim was making with his feet in the pool.


	6. Something is Wrong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A nice day has a bad ending. Just a warning, there will be more hints of parental abuse in this chapter and the following. I will update the tags when necessary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'ALL THIS CHAPTER IS SHORT, I KNOW I AM AWFUL GARBAGE BUT THIS IS HARD FOR ME, A PERSON WHO DOES NOT WRITE, TO WRITE. MY LIFE IS BUSY AS SHIT AND I WANNA MAKE THIS STORY AS GOOD AS POSSIBLE. also I'm sorry I'm behind on replying my friends!! I will try and get better :-0 lease enjoy this lil chapter it is very important to the plot!! Thanks as always to those of you who are reading and interacting with this fic and to megan the goddess of finding plot holes and errors in my fics

Jim was looking at the pool pensively. He knew better than to tell Spock about Frank, so soon. He could just run as soon as he learns how fucked up Jim was, and Jim genuinely liked spending time with him. At the same time, he felt wrong at the thought of lying to Spock. 

It would be so easy to simply tell Spock a lie. Jim sighed, and shook his head. “It’s nothing. I just genuinely don’t want you to drive me home, why do you keep pushing for it?” 

As soon as the words left his mouth in such a bitter tone, he knew that was the wrong way to say it. Spock twitched inwardly, his shoulders rising, as if he were a turtle retreating into a shell.

“I apologize. I did not mean to make you uncomfortable.”

Jim bit his tongue. He tried to think of a quick fix but none came to mind, so they sat together in an awkward silence for the rest of their meal. 

After they had both finished and set their bowls to the side, Jim laid down against the concrete his feet still in the water. After a moment of hesitation, Spock joined him.

“What do you think of this place?” Jim asked, so softly Spock wasn’t sure if Jim even meant for him to hear. He had his hands behind his head, completely relaxed as he studied the sparse amount of clouds above.

“You are not being specific. What do you mean by this place?” Spock replied, his voice so low and quiet it almost was like a rumble.

“I mean this city. The school. Me. I don’t know, I just can’t tell what you’re thinking about.” Jim dared a glance at Spock from the corner of his eye, and noticed his eyes were closed. He hand his hands folded together resting on his stomach, which was rising and falling slowly with his breathing. 

He took a while to respond, too. “I haven’t been in this city long enough nor experienced what it can offer in order to make an accurate judgement. The school seems to be sufficient and beneficial place, with the exception of Donovan.” He paused, his eyes twitching at the mention of Donovan. Subconsciously, Jim tensed too. “And you,”

Jim held his breath, not really knowing what to expect.

“You have been a good friend to me thus far, and have proven to be someone I can rely on. I expect to see a lot more of you in the future.”

Jim chuckled, “You can definitely bet money on that. As soon as I met you and decided I liked you, bam, you’re stuck with me. Sorry ‘bout it.” He was fully looking at Spock now, his head turned the other boy’s way.

He watched Spock’s eyebrow quirk. “I never said it was a negative consequence. I prefer that outcome.”

 

As the sun set, the ground and the pool water quickly became cold. 

“I believe you should leave soon,” Spock said, sitting up. “If you still want to walk I mean.”

Jim really didn’t. “Is it too late to ask for a ride?” It was going to be dark enough by the time they left, and Jim was counting on his street light to still be off. Spock wouldn’t see that much.

“It is never too late,” Spock said, standing up.

Jim followed him, stretching his back. He then bent back over to grab their bowls, shaking his wet feet out. His toes were definitely pruning, and a chill went up his spine, but he was enjoying himself.

\-----  
As Jim wiped off his feet, Spock took the bowls from him and walked them inside. The lights were all on, and Amanda was sitting on the sofa watching a show. As he set the bowls in the sink, Amanda noticed him.

“How is it going?” Amanda asked, pausing her tv. Her tone was hushed.

“Very well. I have enjoyed spending time with him.” He rinsed off the forks as Jim walked in.

“Thank you again for today ma. I had an absolutely awesome night.”

“Of course dear, but don’t thank me! It’s not everyday that Spock brings a friend over.”

Jim beamed at that, and Spock was merely watching the interaction, transfixed on Jim’s face. 

“I hope I wasn’t too much of a bother today,” Jim said, and Amanda immediately waved him away.

“You could never be, Jim. You are welcome back any time, I mean it!” The sincerity in Amanda’s voice caused Jim to smile even wider, if that were possible. 

Jim had his bag in his hand from where he had left it by the back door, and walked over to Amanda to give her another quick hug.

“Thank you.” 

 

As they were walking to Spock’s car, Amanda called from the front door, “Drive safe sweetheart!”

Spock shook his head a little, trying not to feel embarrassed but instead Jim said, “Man, your mom is really cool.”

As he unlocked the car, Spock asked, “Really?”

“Yeah! She was so nice. I was expecting someone a bit more stern, honestly.” 

Jim tossed his bag into his side and the two slid into their respective car seats. Spock started the engine as Jim buckled his seatbelt.

“Why do you say that?”

“Because… I don’t know. You just seem so serious so I just kinda assumed your parents would be more serious, too.” He looked over at Spock and saw he seemed like he was deep in thought. “That’s not a bad thing, you know.”

Spock reached over, like he was going to put his arm around Jim’s shoulder. Before Jim could get out a ‘woah, buddy’ out, Spock had set his hand behind Jim’s headrest and turned his head to reverse the car, glancing at Jim with a quizzical look as he turned back and put his car into drive.

 

This time, the drive was mostly quiet, Jim because he was getting sleepy, Spock because he was focused on driving.

“Turn right here,” Jim said softly, his eyes partway closed as he watched streetlights pass. He paused, mulling over the day. Spock was typically silent, but this felt like the longest time he had gone without responding to Jim. “Are we okay?”

Pulling to a stop at a red light, Spock turned his head to Jim quickly. “Of course. Why would you ask?”

Shifting, uncomfortable from Spock’s suddenly worried attention. “No reason.” If it were possible, Jim could feel disbelief radiating from Spock’s gaze. “I feel like the whole serious thing- was kinda rude. I’m sorry.” Spock remained silent as the green light flashed on and he started driving again.

“Did I fuck this up?” Something seemed definitely off, and it jarred Spock from focusing solely on the road. This voice seemed too small to be Jim’s, the boy who seemed bigger than the sun.

“No,” Spock said simply, in the friendliest voice he could muster. “We are completely okay. Where do I turn?”

They were now passing through a shopping street, filled with traffic in the mid evening.

“Take another right after the next light,” Jim said, watching people exiting and entering stores with his arms crossed against himself.

The amount of traffic allowed Spock to focus more on Jim.

“Jim.” Spock said, his hand reaching over blindly, his eyes still trained on the car in front of him. His hand found Jim’s forearm, warm and bare. “You have done nothing wrong. You told me your honest opinion which I appreciate, and I am not offended by it. I believe honesty is important, is it not?”

Jim laughed, and Spock felt immediately relieved. Jim was slowly coming back to him. He pulled his hand away to place it back on the wheel.

“You’re right. Sorry, I get worried sometimes.” The drastic change in tone was odd to Spock, but he was sure that that was something Jim did often. He sounded normal again, and that was what Spock was most concerned about.

“It is of no consequence.”

 

Spock had his high beams on, which he knew he technically shouldn’t do, but he couldn’t see anything for the life of him in Jim’s neighborhood.

“This one’s mine, on the right.” Jim said.

Spock had to keep himself from asking Jim if he was sure. Instead, he parked at the sidewalk, and tried his best to make out what Jim’s house looked like. He couldn’t help his own curiosity, but he didn’t see anything. 

“To get out of my neighborhood, take a u-ie, then make two lefts, a right, then wait two streets to take another left.” Jim said, pulling at his door handle, looking out his window.

Jim paused for a moment, his door partway open. A sigh escaped him as he shook his head, grabbing his bag and stepping out of the car.

“Thank you again for today. For everything.” Something about his tone was clipped, another dramatic change in mood.

Before Spock could respond, his passenger door was shut. The door lights shut off, and Spock was left alone. Jim disappeared into the night, but Spock still waited a few minutes in case he couldn’t get into his house.

 

The drive home was faster than the drive there which was good for Spock. He was itching to get home to talk to Amanda

“Mother, I have a question. Why would a friend want to keep a secret from another friend?” 

Spock sat himself down as soon as he got home at his sofa where his mother still was, a book now in hand that she set aside when she saw him walk in.

Amanda contemplated her answer for a moment. “Well, sweetheart, there are a lot of reasons. Is this about Jim?” 

Spock shrugged. “Yes.” He wasn’t surprised she knew what he was talking about, between how obvious he was probably being and how well his mother read him.

“You guys just probably haven’t spent enough time with each other that’s all. Some people have trust issues, maybe that’s a factor too. You just need to give him time. I’m sure someday soon you two will be thick as thieves. Is there a safety concern though?”

He held up his hands in helplessness. “That is the thing, mother. On the way home Jim started apologizing profusely. Then right before he left, he simply said goodbye and left. He doesn’t seem like the person to do that. I am unsure.”

Amanda pursed her lips. “That sure doesn’t seem like what I’ve seen of Jim, but we can’t make assumptions love. Just keep your eye out and let me know if something else happens okay?”

Solemnly, Spock nodded. “I will mother.”

Amanda patted Spock's shoulder. “Maybe not tonight, but definitely tomorrow, shoot him a text to check in on him.”

 

\-----  
It was not hard for Jim to find his front door. He knew the walk like the back of his hand, he didn’t need any light.

The issue was the dread in Jim’s shoulders from knowing Frank was inside. Jim fumbled in his backpack for his keys and missed the keyhole once, twice. Every noise he made made him cringe. He silently prayed to his stars that Frank was asleep, that he was at least sober.

The key finally slid into the lock but before he could turn it, the door was wrenched open.

Jim could smell his foul breath.

“Where have you been, boy?”


	7. Things get out of Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim needs a ride to school... then leaves mysteriously during the day. Bones and Spock are here to save the day!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey so uh this is gonna get a wee bit dark but honestly this fic's Frank is so awful and I can't stop him so uh... y'all mind if I send his ass to jail? I'm posting 7 and 8 today and then by 9 we will be RID of Frank so we can get some actual happy romance stuff ... This is mostly me just venting shit I guess.

Sunday morning, Spock followed his mother’s advice. 

“Jim, you left very quickly last night. Is everything okay? -Spock”

Instead of a fast response as per usual, there was no response at all the whole day. Spock justified it at first, maybe Jim was tired, he did have a long day the day before. The afternoon passed as Spock read sitting in the grass of his backyard. He had the opportunity to help his mother plant a part of the garden but he didn’t feel the energy. Spock kept his phone in his pocket as the day went by, hoping for a response. He was sure that his worry might have been unfounded, but it didn’t stop the sensation. 

“No response yet dear?” Amanda asked, making her lunch for the next day that night. 

Spock simply shook his head.

Amanda stopped cutting up lettuce for her sandwich, looking thoughtfully at the light marble countertop. “You don’t think it’s a family issue do you? Do you know what his family is like?”

“I have no definitive idea.” He said, sounding slightly exasperated despite his wishes. He went up the stairs to his room. He tossed his phone on his bed, and left to take a shower. 

He undressed, realizing he had not before considered Jim’s family. He remembered Nyota informed him of how his mother was in the military, but he had no idea about his father, or siblings for that matter.  
He stood in the shower and washed his hair as he tried to get his mind off of Jim. He thought about his recital, and about Monday’s tasks. He had a quiz in one of his classes, and needed to meet with Uhura at lunch. Stepping out and drying himself off, he wished he had brought his phone into the bathroom with him to at least put on music with. 

 

Monday morning, Spock woke up early. He unlocked his phone almost as soon as he woke up, no messages. He pulled his blanket up higher against himself as he stared at the blank screen in frustration. His alarm wouldn’t go off for another half hour, but he got up anyway. 

Pulling on a jacket, he stepped outside to his car. After starting it, he realized he had forgotten his backpack inside. He blamed it on being distracted, and mentally scolded himself for being so careless. After retrieving his backpack, he tossed it into his backseat and started his car. Before he could pull out of his driveway his phone started buzzing wildly.

The phone screen read Jim Kirk - incoming phone call. Spock scrambled to swipe it to answer.

“Hello. Jim?” Spock said, somehow breathless. The response seemed to take forever to come.

“Spock. Can you help me? I need a ride to school. I’m so sorry, I fucked up my ankle.” The voice was definitely Jim’s, but hoarse and quiet.

There was no hesitation or thought before the yes came out of Spock’s mouth. He kept Jim on the phone, in case he forgot the way but surprisingly he did not forget most of it.

Pulling up to where Jim said to stop, Spock was shocked by seeing the house in the morning light.

The front door was painted a rusty orange but the paint was chipped, faded, and cracked. The pavement was covered in dirt and littered with garbage. The two windows next to the front door were dusty and one was broken altogether, the gap patched up by a homemade chicken wire screen duct taped to the wall. Jim was already standing outside, his weight set on one leg. His uniform sweater was slightly wrinkled and his hair was mussed, looking like he hadn’t slept in a while. A red abrasion went across his cheek but he gave Spock a grin anyway.

A grin that seemed forced, but Jim didn’t give Spock a chance to ask him about it. Jim talked at an excited pace as soon as he got in the car, his voice shaking awkwardly. 

“Thank you for picking me up, I’m sorry you had to, Bones is skipping first period this morning he has to take his dog to the vet, have you met his dog? His dog is the sweetest old thing I have ever seen she has long hair and likes peanut butter and sitting on people’s feet. Anyways I’m sorry again I hope it did not eat into your day. Did you eat today? You are always so small.”

“Jim.” Spock said, stopping him when they were almost to school. Almost immediately, Jim stopped talking. 

“Yeah?” 

“What happened? To your face. And your ankle.” The driver in front of them did an illegal U-turn, and Spock took a moment to glare at the car as they passed.

Jim shifted in his seat. “I fell. I went skating yesterday.” Compared to his usual grandiose and complicated stories, this seemed much too simple for it to be Jim telling the truth.

Rather than calling him out on it for fear he was overreacting, he asked another question. “Is that why you didn’t reply yesterday?”

Jim looked genuinely surprised. “Oh shit, you texted me? I’m sorry. Phone, uh, broke when I fell.”

Spock nodded slowly, not bothering to ask how he reached Spock that morning then.

“Your house-”

“Don’t.” There was a sudden steel to Jim’s voice, and Spock shook his head. 

They continued to ride in silence before Spock tried again. “I never asked about your family. What are they like?”

Jim’s uninjured leg was bouncing nervously and rapidly. “It's fine. I'll tell you later I don't want to talk about them right now.”

“I had no malicious intent.” They pulled up to the school, Spock looping through the parking lot looking for a spot.

“It’s okay. I just don’t wanna talk about it.” He held his bag against himself as if he were going to make a run for it at any moment, eyes cast down in what Spock guessed to be shame.

Spock nodded in acknowledgement as he pulled into an empty parking space. He left his car running even after he put his car in park, and Jim could swear he saw gears grinding in the boy’s head. Jim had already started getting out of the car, just like he had on Saturday night. He was sitting at the fa edge of his seat, one foot out the cracked open door.

“Are we going to go?”

Spock shook his head, looking over at Jim. 

“You can go, but I believe I am going to sit here for a while.” Before Jim could get out or Spock could rethink this action, he reached for Jim’s wrist to stop him. “Wait,”

Instead of stopping him however, the contact made Jim jerk violently, twisting his wrist out of Spock’s grasp. His eyes were wide and panicked until he blinked rapidly, seeming to come back to himself.

“I’m sorry,” Jim said, rubbing his wrist. “I’m just a bit jumpy I guess. Didn’t have coffee.” The joke was weak and the accompanying laugh was weaker. “Anyways, I’m gonna go see the boys. If you wanna catch up with us we’ll be in the cafeteria. Thank you again, Spock.”

At the shut of his passenger door, Spock laid back against his seat. It was terribly confusing, having someone be so fluidly changed so quickly. The emotional turbulence was exactly what Spock had told his father he wanted to avoid but at this point his concern outweighed his ideals. Even though he hadn’t known Jim that long, he already cared for him. 

So instead of going to class, he asked Hikaru over text to accompany him to the nearby coffee shop.

 

“Do you have Leonard’s phone number?” Spock asked as soon as Hikaru got into Spock’s car.

“Well hello to you too sunshine!” Hikaru said, setting his bag down by his feet. He strapped on his seat belt and noticing Spock wasn’t responding he continued, “Yes I do. How come?” 

The parking lot was still semi-empty, so Spock only needed to spare a glance behind him to make sure it was clear to back up. “Would you classify him as Jim’s best friend?”

“Oh yes without a doubt. They have known each other since first grade. They were voted best friends in the yearbook sophomore year too! They like, invented bromance. But seriously, how come you need it? D’you think he’s cute? Because honestly I wouldn’t have guessed McCoy I wouldda bet Kirk but I support you either way-”

“Hikaru,” Spock said, interrupting a friend for the second time that day, as gently as possible.

“Yeah?”

“This is about Kirk- Jim.” 

Hikaru’s face went to complete joyful surprise. “Oh. My. God. I called it.”

Spock shook his head, “No not like that. I’m… worried about him.”

“What?” His expression became completely serious and he shifted in his seat so he could see Spock better. “Why? What’s goin’ on? Is he okay?”

“That’s the problem, Hikaru. I don’t know. When I approach Jim about it he get’s scared, angry, or apologetic. Generally just dodges talking about his home or why he is injured. He has a twisted ankle and a large cut on his face. I have no solid evidence of any foul play but I am still concerned.”

“Yeah,” Hikaru said with a sigh, running a hand through his hair, “ I’ve seen some sus shit with Jim too. I never said anything and just shook it off. You think it’s that serious?”

“That’s what I want to talk to Leonard about. Of anyone he should know best.” 

Grimly, Hikaru nodded as he pulled his binder out of his bag. He ripped out a blank paper and scribbled down Leonard’s number. “I’ll stuff it in your bag. Where is it?”

“It is in the backseat, but I would rather just put it in my pocket.” Spock jumped a little as Hikaru started shoving the paper into his pocket. “I was referring to myself doing that when I parked but I suppose this works too.”

“Saves time. Now how come we’re going to get coffee when both McCoy and Jim are at school?”

Pulling into an empty parking space in front of the coffee shop, Spock replied, “Jim said he didn’t have coffee, also claiming that that was the reason why he was feeling so off. Given what I know of him and his natural speaking pattern compared to his current deviation, I must assume this small sentence is a fallacy.”

“So basically, utter bullshit, right?” Hikaru asked, pulling his wallet from his bag.

“Yes,” Spock said, as the two got out of his car. Spock locked his door and followed Hikaru into the shop. “But even still, hopefully it will help him.”

“Good morning you two!” A red haired girl cheerily called from behind the bar.

“Gaila! Good morning.” Hikaru said, stepping up in front of the register.

“Sulu! I know you and ya order by heart! Where’s Jimmy? He’s usually the one coming in and getting coffees…” Gaila pulled a cup from the stack, pulling a sharpie out of what seemed like nowhere to wrike Hikaru’s name on the side.

Hikaru looked at Spock, asking without speaking what exactly to say. 

“He’s at school. We are just surprising him.” Spock said. 

Gaila looked at Spock like she was just noticing him for the first time.

“Well, hi! I haven’t met you before. I’m Gaila!” She set Hikaru’s cup down and leaned over the counter to thrust a hand out to Spock. From fear of seeming rude, he shook her hand in return, feeling a large amount of deja vu from when he first met Hikaru. Retracting his hand quickly once more, he managed a small smile.

“Hello. My name is Spock.”

“Spock huh? Neat! Are you and Sulu together?” She did not stop smiling, and Spock noticed she had a small gap between her front teeth.

“No, we are just friends.” Spock replied, feeling very confused when both Hikaru and Gaila started laughing. “What is funny?”

“I meant in this transaction,” Gaila said between giggles. She tapped on her computer screen a couple of times, then looked up at Spock, fighting to calm down but losing with a grin.

His eyes scanned the menu, feeling slightly embarrassed. “Oh. Then yes. I would like three coffees please, including Hikaru’s. Other than his I’ll do two large black coffees-”

“Wait, one of these is for Jim right?” Hikaru said, interrupting Spock, who nodded. “No way in fresh hell will you catch Jim drinking a black coffee!”

Spock raised his eyebrows. “I did not know, he had gotten me one a while ago, so I had guessed it was what he liked.”

Hikaru had a small, knowing smile. “Yeah, I know. I was there. Gail, just do Jim’s usual.” 

Gail nodded, pulling out a clear plastic cup and writing ‘Jimmy’ with a little heart next to it. “Still a black coffee for you, Spock?”

Spock regarded the menu again, and Hikaru nudged him, urging, “Give the caramel macchiato a shot!”

“I suppose I will.”

 

The two got to school only a few minutes late, and since he had a key Hikaru let them both in through the side door of the office. Everyone was quiet in there, and Hikaru tip-toed as a joke. Spock waved goodbye to Hikaru with a coffee in each hand, backing out of the office.

Spock set Jim’s coffee by his locker before he made his way to his class.

In the middle of a lecture, the teacher paused upon seeing Spock walk in. He could feel eyes on him as he walked to his seat and set his bag and coffee down.   
“Welcome to class Spock,” The teacher, Mr. Urio said with a sly smile, eyeing Spock’s coffee with a flair of jealously before returning to his lecture.

 

For the rest of the day, Spock kept an eye out of for Jim, but did not see him. Dance class did a lot to get his mind off of Jim, having to start official choreo. It was difficult because Jacklynn had not shown up as she likely was sick, but they had managed well enough anyway. Uhura had her own dance to choreograph but had come by a couple times for encouragement and help. 

In the next class, Uhura stopped Spock as he was about to start on his work. 

“Are you okay? You seem pretty... not you today.” Uhura asked, her notes spread out on her desk as she began to work. She looked at him with a vague hint of concern.

“Yes I’m satisfactory.” 

After he replied, she looked up and around before leaning in close to Spock. In a low voice no more than a whisper, she asked, “Do you know what happened with Jim?”

Spock leaned back to her, and replied, “No. Do you know anything?” They probably looked like they were conspiring something, but at that point Spock did not care.

Uhura shook her head and pressed her lips together. “No. He’s not talking to anyone. He’s gotten injured from a fight and always got back up, but this time it’s different. I don’t know. Can you talk to him for me? If he lets you in? Just tell him I love him and if he needs anything he can always come to me.” 

Spock nodded, finding himself taken aback by how much Uhura genuinely cared. As soon as she started to do her work, Spock pulled out his phone.   
“Have you seen Jim today? -Spock”

A few minutes later Spock got a reply.

“No, and how did you get this number” a pause, then another buzz. ”And what’s with the signing shit?”

“The primary goal was to inform you who I was. I need to talk to you after school about Jim.” 

“What about Jim”

“I think he may need our help.”

Leonard sent many replies in quick succession causing Spock’s phone to buzz frantically, but Spock couldn’t read them because his teacher cleared his throat and shook his head at Spock. He held his hand out, and Spock handed him his phone while Uhura teased him with an ‘oooh you’re in trouble’. 

“I expected better of you,” the teacher said before turning around. “Pick this up at the office after school.”

 

Spock had no idea where he could find Leonard after school, but luckily enough, Leonard found him. He had already changed into casual clothes, a green shirt and tan shorts with such worn black shoes they looked more like they were grey. He looked angry, but the kind of angry that Spock immediately identified as a mask for genuine concern.

As soon as he saw Spock, he fumed, “Had me worrying my goddamn ass off all day, where’d you go?” His accent got thicker, probably something that happened when he was stressed. He had both hands in fists kept securely at his sides.

“My cell phone was confiscated, I apologize.” Spock was gifted with an immediate and impatient eyeroll. 

“What d’you mean about Jim? I haven’t seen him at all today. Sulu texted me and told me he went home. I was going to go see him after school anyways.” Leonard was taking deep breaths, like he was trying to calm himself. “Walk with me, I wan’ head to my car.”

Leonard took long strides, but Spock matched his pace evenly. “On Saturday, he was.... I can’t describe it…. About his home.”

Leonard sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Dodgy as a rabbit to a carrot-less hollerin’ child, yeah. But that's probably none of your business.” He paused, then glanced back at Spock. “No offense. But if Jim wanted you knowing about his home life, there would be no stopping him.”

Spock nodded. “I quite agree. However he asked me to take him to school today. He had an abrasion on his cheek and his ankle was twisted.”

Leonard stopped, and let out a barking “Fuck!” out, before he whipped out his phone. He pulled up a contact, “jonesy”. He pressed the call button but it sent Leonard straight to voicemail.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Leonard repeated, shoving his phone back into his pocket. “Come on,” Leonard said, taking off towards his car.

As soon as Spock had closed his passenger door, Leonard took off.

“Goddamn idiot he shouldn't have gone home I told him when he gets that bad he needs to _come to me_.” Leonard muttered under his breath angrily. He was driving well over the speed limit, taking sharp turns without looking, but Spock did not mention it.

Panic started to flood Spock’s body without his consent. He had believed that Leonard would simply have reassured him that Jim was fine, but seeing Leonard look an awful mixture of angry and scared made him worry. 

The drive took a fraction of the time that it usually would, and when he pulled up to Jim’s house with a screech, Leonard pinched the bridge of his nose. Spock watched dazedly, remembering that he never picked up his phone from the office.

“Stay in the car, I’m gonna go get Jim.” Leonard said, his voice now a strained and eerie calm. His breaths were deep and controlled, but he still had a wild look in his eyes.

Even so, Spock replied, “No. I am going with you.”

His request granted him a deep breath through Leonard’s nose and a quiet, gruff, “Come on, then.” As they walked up to the front door, Leonard turned to Spock and held a finger to his chest. “You have to be polite as possible to Frank, ya hear?”

Despite not knowing who Frank was and why he was required to be nice to him, Spock nodded. 

 

The inside of Jim’s house, if it were possible, was worse than the outside. It was somehow very dark even in midday, all of the windows covered in black curtains. What Spock could see of the carpeted floors were massive stains. Spock was stopped by Leonard before he could habitually take off his shoes by the front door, and as they walked he found he was glad about that. They could not go a step without stepping on something it seemed, and at one point it felt like shards of glass.   
Leonard obviously knew his way around the house, but Spock did not, so he had to follow Leonard very closely as they walked. It felt more like a maze with how dark it was, but Spock believed in Leonard’s ability to lead the way.

“Who’s there?” A voice called from the dark. 

“It's Leonard sir, and Spock. We are here to pick up Jim.”

“Jimmy,” the voice called, and the way it was said and how his name hung in the air made Spock’s skin crawl. 

“Yessir,” Leonard said shortly, then continued walking to Jim's room. 

 

“Jim,” Leonard said as they walked into what Spock guessed was his room. Leonard's voice was surprisingly gentle, and Spock could barely make out Jim lying on his bed. Jim, who shifted at the sound of Leonard's voice. 

“Len?” Jim asked blearily. It was the first time Spock had heard him call him anything other than Bones.

“Yeah, kid, it's me. Do you need help standing? You're gonna come home with us.”

“Yeah.” Jim replied, voice cracking. 

Leonard bent down and pulled Jim slowly up by the shoulders, saying, “Stop me when I hurt you.” 

Jim took a test step, sucking in through his teeth when he put pressure on his bad ankle. He leaned heavily into Leonard, and Leonard said in a low tone, “Spock. Take his other side please.”

Spock fell into place, pulling Jim’s arm over his shoulders.

“Thank you.” Jim said, shame clear in his voice, which confused Spock. Why would Jim feel so ashamed? His friends were there to help and support him in something that was not his fault. It inexplicably made Spock angry, but he filed the information and emotions for later.

 

They filed out to the car in silence, and Leonard and Spock set Jim down in the backseat with a grunt. His feet were black from walking barefoot on the ground, and his ankle was swelling.

Leonard asked, ¨Can you drive? I wan’ be in back with Jim.¨

Spock nodded, and barely caught the keys that Leonard tossed him. They drove with Leonard holding Jim upright in the backseat asking him random questions softly and at times giving Spock directions to his house. 

“How old were we when we tried to cross that creek by my house but you fell in?” Leonard asked. 

“Ten.” Jim smiled weakly at the memory.

“What grade were we in that I dared you to kiss Sulu and you actually did it?” Then a bit louder, Leonard instructed, “Take this left turn Spock.”

“8th.” The smile came back a bit more.

“Which dance did Pavel wear his first full suit at?”

This time the smile, although still feeble, was full of pride. “Homecoming dance this year.” 

“When did I lose my first tooth, and how?”

This granted Spock and Leonard a chuckle. “You were six and it was when I tricked you into eating a snowball with a rock in it.” Looking in the rearview mirror that was trained on Jim, Spock could see tears welling up in his eyes.


	8. The Other Side of Paradise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We see what Jim went through, and Bones and Spock start thinking of a plan. We can see a light at the end of a tunnel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to keep the actual abuse parts vague-ish because I don't want this to be too bad. I hope you all enjoy and stick with me through these hard times. 
> 
> Also I'm graduating tomorrow!! woo!!!

Back at Leonard's house, which was a pleasant powder blue older looking two-story, Spock and Leonard helped Jim inside. They set Jim down on the couch nestled by the front door. 

“Can I sleep yet?” Jim asked Leonard. He looked an absolute mess. His eyes were red rimmed and glassy and his hair was unsettled and sticking up in places. If it were possible, Spock would say that he looked worse than he did that morning. His skin was slightly paled, and Spock wondered if Jim had eaten that day.

“No,” Leonard said, stern but kind. He placed a pillow behind Jim’s head. “Not just yet. I need you to answer some questions for me, okay?”

Jim nodded, struggling to keep his eyes open. “M’kay.”

“Alright.” Leonard glanced over his shoulder at Spock. “Do you mind him being in here Jim?”

Jim fidgeted a bit, “I don’t know, but if I want you to go, will you?” He looked up at Spock with earnest eyes.

Spock nodded, knowing better than to feel offended. “Of course, Jim.”

“Thank you.” 

Leonard focused again on Jim. 

“Was it Frank?” 

Jim nodded slowly, eyes cast down. 

“What hurts right now?” 

There was more fidgeting from Jim. “My ankle. An’ my head. And my ribs. My cheek, too.”

Spock watched as Leonard’s face got darker as Jim spoke. 

“How did he attack you?”

Jim started to speak then gave up several times. His breathing started to pick up, and he was visibly shaking.

“Jim, Jim. You are safe. You’re home now, alright? You don’t have to talk about this.” 

Jim nodded.

“Just breathe, okay? I don’t have any more questions. I just need to check you out and make sure you’re safe to sleep. You might have another concussion. I also wanna clean that face cut and set up your ankle. I’m gonna bandage that cut tomorrow, but it needs to breathe a little more for tonight.”

Jim nodded again, and looked up at Spock. “Is there a chance you could go? Just for a bit? I’m so sorry.”

Leonard turned and said to Spock, “Go ahead and go upstairs. My room is down the hall on your right.”

With a last longing look at Jim, Spock made his way to Leonard’s room. Even from there however, he could somehow hear Leonard and Jim’s conversation. He tried not to hear, but could not help but hear a sentence or two.

“Bones. I’m weak. I hate feeling weak.” Jim’s voice was broken, he was definitely crying. Spock felt internal pain in simply hearing Jim sound the way he did, worse knowing he couldn’t help Jim at all.

“Don’t you ever fucking say that Jim.” Leonard said exactly what Spock wanted to, his voice was low but sharp. 

After that, Spock plugged his ears with the heels of his hands. Minutes passed before Leonard came up the stairs and nudged Spock’s shoulder. 

“He fell asleep. I need to grab my camera.” 

He plucked his camera from where it rested on his desk, then went down the stairs. He had not beckoned for Spock to follow him, but he did anyways. Jim was sprawled out on the couch completely asleep. Without hesitation, Leonard started taking pictures of Jim’s exposed ankle. Leonard had it propped up, resting on a pillow bordered by two ice bags.  
The ankle itself was swollen and purplish black. Leonard then moved over to Jim’s face, focusing on his clean but still red and swollen cheekbone. 

Moving over to the kitchen, Spock watched Leonard flip between the pictures, his brow furrowed.

“Why are you taking pictures?” Spock asked quietly, hoping not to wake Jim up.

“Because,” Leonard replied, setting the camera down on the counter. “If Jim ever lets me, I’m gonna take that sonofabitch to court, and I’ll be damned if I don’t send his ass to jail.”

“Do your parents know?”

Leonard shook his head quickly. “No. Jim is afraid if they turn Frank in, his mama will have to come home. He feels like her having fun doing a job is more important than his own damn safety. I get it, she loves that job, but that doesn’t mean Jim deserves to put up with Frank.” 

Spock bit his lip, taking in all the information, and he felt slightly overwhelmed from the variety of emotions inside himself.

“Why did you ask me to be so nice to Frank? If he is abusing Jim, I would assume that you would ‘punch his lights out’, as you would say.”

Leonard ran a hand roughly against his face. “Christ almighty I would _love_ to. But abusers, when they’re mad, they don’t take it out on the person they’re mad at usually. They take it out on their punching bag.”

“And Jim is the punching bag in this instance?”

Leonard let out a dark chuckle. “Unfortunately.”

“I see.”

The two sat in silence for a while, before Spock said, “We have to do something.” He had thought about Jim’s situation to the point where irrationally he might say his blood was boiling.

“I know.”

“I don’t want to sound presumptuous. I know I have not known Jim for long. But something needs to change.”

“Jim would never forgive us.” Leonard said, something in his voice said that he knew that was a feeble excuse.

“If we don’t do something, he might never have the chance to. I’m going to say something one way or the other Leonard. My mother will be more than happy to help. Your cooperation would be extremely helpful in making this case. You said you wanted to see Frank in prison, did you not?”

There was a fearsome glint of determination in Leonard’s eyes. 

 

Before Jim was even awake, Spock and Leonard had worked up most of a plan. Over the span of above five hours, pausing only so Spock could use Leonard’s phone to call his mother, they had debated, argued, and filled out a piece of scratch paper that would inevitably change Jim’s life.

 

Step One. Tell Mrs. Kirk (___)-___-____

Step Two. Move Jim out of Frank’s house permanently

Step Three. Take Frank to jail (Leonard. We need to be more specific.) (Spock, shut up. Most of this plan is gonna come to us as we go)

Post-plan  
If Mrs. Kirk cannot stay indefinitely  
(Note: This is too simplistic.)(We talked about this, Spock. It’s supposed to be.)

 

Leonard sat back and scratched his chin while he looked at their mixed handwriting. His own was short and stumpy with mixed capitalization while Spock’s was looped --

“By the way Leonard, what time will your parents return home?” Spock rubbed his eye and looked at the glowing “10:23” on Leonard’s nightstand. 

Leonard shrugged, standing from where they were sitting on his bedroom floor, stretching his legs. “They told me they were on a date. Who knows when they come home. You can sleep here tonight if you want by the way, they won’t mind.”

“Thank you.” The entire day had drained him, and he was glad he didn’t have to drive home. 

 

Spock ended up falling asleep on a makeshift bed made of blankets and a few pillows directly next to the sofa Jim slept in. He woke up in a very uncomfortable position, with one arm abnormally pinned underneath himself. He had no idea what time it was but he sat up and shook his arm out, seeing that sunlight was streaming through the window.  
Spock had considered going back to sleep briefly, before he heard noise in the kitchen. Following it, he found a short plump black-haired man at the stove who turned around and smiled at Spock. He was in the middle of cooking some form of breakfast.

“G’mornin,” he said quietly with a warm smile. “I’m David, s’nice to meet ya.” He reached over with his large paw like hand and shook Spock’s. 

“I am Spock.” David had a quiet and sleepy air to him that was somehow calming the knot of worry that presented itself when Spock thought of the night before. The two remained in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Jim got up. If Spock didn’t know better and couldn’t see the cut on his face, Jim seemed like nothing had ever happened. He smiled brightly, and said good morning to both of them.

“You two are ready so early,” David said chuckling, and Spock looked down at himself. He had forgotten he was still wearing his uniform from the previous day. 

Leonard soon came down as well, already dressed for school. “Jim,” He said, “You aren’t going to school, kid. You need to rest that ankle today. I wanna take you to the doctor after school for that but for now you are stayin’ here.”

Jim gave him a mock pout. “I’m gonna have to miss our game this weekend aren’t I?”

Leonard responded with a sympathetic pat on Jim’s shoulder. “Sorry kid.”

David watched with confused interest. “What’s goin on Jimbo?”

Jim looked at Leonard and Spock, looking for direction. 

“He hurt his ankle in a skateboarding accident,” Spock interjected. Both Leonard and Jim looked at him in shock, but David merely nodded, accepting the statement. Spock was passed what looked like a burrito by David and bit into it.   
With immediate regret, Spock realized there was eggs and ham in it. Of course there was. He swallowed as politely as he could, then passed the burrito over to Jim who unquestioningly wolfed it down. 

David caught the act over his shoulder, and he looked genuinely hurt. “Y’don’ like it?” he asked.

“No, no, it is simply because I am vegetarian,” Spock said, and horror replaced hurt in David’s eyes. 

He turned back to the stover and started on a new tortilla. “Lordy, I am sorry! I had no idea- I’ll make you a quesadilla son. And Lenny,” 

“Please don’t call me that,” Leonard groaned.

“ _Lenny_ , I can take Jim to the doctors if ya want. I traded shifts with Rick and so I’m working the night shift.”

“Are you sure?” Leonard asked before he took a large bite of his own burrito that was full to bursting with eggs drenched in hot sauce. 

“Of course,” David replied warmly, passing Spock a plate with a freshly made quesadilla and mussing Jim’s hair affectionately. 

“Thanks Pop,” Jim said, grinning.

 

\-----  
Before Bones and Spock left, they set . They explained very calmly and slowly about a plan that they had come up with the night before. Jim tried to stay calm as panic gripped him, his brain scrambling to find ways he could stop them. He could run away, but since he was still under 18, police could still take him home. He could let them take Frank to court and just refuse to testify, but no matter what it seemed like they would still get his mom to come home.   
His mom, who he was trying to protect. If Frank had no issue kicking Jim around like a trashcan, what would stop him from doing the same to his mom? How would she react? And every fucking time she called home on holidays, Jim listened for hours on end about how much she loved her job.

_“Jim,” Winona gushed, “You would not believe what I did last week. I fixed the capital’s hydraulic processor - by myself. And stinky Mark Ramio said I couldn’t do it. Huh! I showed him... I’m actually starting classes soon so hopefully I can move up-”_

Jim shook his head at the memory, just in time to say goodbye to Spock and Bones. He was shaking, feeling like his spine was vibrating.

“I’m ready to go whenever you are son, I just need to get some shoes on and say good morning to mama.” David said, halfway up the stairs, watching Jim carefully. “D’you need a jacket?”

“Nah,” Jim said, “But can you grab Bones’ flip flops for me? I didn’t bring shoes.” David always had a way of offering help without making Jim feel bad for it somehow.

“Can do.” 

 

When he came back downstairs, David passed Jim a pair of shoes. 

“I’m gonna help you up okay son?” He leaned over and hefted Jim up, and let Jim use him as a crutch as they walked outside and to David’s truck. David opened the door with his free hand and then boosted Jim up into his seat. 

The drive to the hospital was uneventful, David’s radio playing old rock’n’roll quietly. The hospital wasn’t far, but they had to enter the freeway where they hit a bit of traffic. Jim went to reach for his phone but then remembered that Frank had shattered the glass.

_He wrenched the phone out of Jim’s hand, Bones’ number and contact pulled up. He threw it on the ground, and it gave out a loud crack._

_“Look at me when I’m talkin’ to you boy,” Frank roared as he reached out and grabbed his wrist, causing Jim to yelp. When he tried to pull away, Frank grabbed him by the hair with his other hand and shoved his head to the floor. Something cut Jim’s face, and he could feel blood coming out._

After that, everything started to get hazy. He didn’t even remember how he got to school, just the rush of relief at seeing Spock’s face, and the overwhelming need he had to hug him.   
He had ghosted through all of his classes, until around the middle of second period. People kept staring, and it made Jim feel like he looked blasphemous. That and the fact that he could barely stand or keep awake drove him to hop the fence at the back of his school and head home. He didn’t expect Frank to be at home, but probably by sheer bad luck, he was. 

_Jim knew it was bad, just as bad as it was Saturday night, when he saw how drunk he was. Who gets drunk so early?  
Frank did, and he was so pissed._

_“What are you doing home? You should be at school you piece of shit--” The words were slurred and angry, having no less bite than usual._

_Jim’s immediate reaction was to call Bones. Call Bones, he can help. He knew he had to go, that coming back here was not a good idea. He pulled out the phone again but once more it was ripped from his hands._

_“Goddamn you and this phone!” Frank threw his arm back and flung the phone at Jim, missing him by inches but hitting the wall with a resonating crash. This time, it was for sure dead, the phone screen completely in shambles immediately powering down._

_After a few minutes which felt like hours of dodging blows and trying to calm Frank down, he wore himself off and eventually went to his chair to sleep. Jim felt his ribs aching but set to closing the curtains. If he kept it dark, maybe Frank would sleep longer.  
Sleep, which sounded like the best course of action for Jim. He curled up in his bed, and tried not to think about what life was like before Frank. Tried not to wonder about when this torture would end. _


	9. Lots of Things Happen and Jim Can't Stop Crying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bones throws a trash can, Jim is emotionally exhaused, Winona is an asshole, FRANK IS GOIN TO JAIL!!! Spock has some gay feelings, and Amanda is an angel. Is any of this news?  
> side note: there is a weird part when Jim is having a panic attackish thing in the courthouse and Bones has Spock put his hand on Jim's neck to brace him- this is a personal note that I added because when I panic like Jim was for some reason neck/upper back pressure helps me a lot and keeps me from doing anything drastic and well, is it really a fic if I don't force my personal traits on characters? the answer is no.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hoo boy y'all I know it has been ages and I am so sorry literally I'm working full time between two jobs and I'm going to school full time and it kinda makes writing really fuckin' hard. I hope the wait was semi? worth it!! Also if you can, could you tell me what you wanna see in this fic? I plan on having a chapter or two focus on Pavel (because he is my baby and I also have an idea for him- yeah its angsty but GOOD ending i promise?) Do we wanna see Jim at his job or have the boys go to the dance? GUIDE ME HERE GUYS 
> 
> Once again, I'm so sorry about awfully late posting I kept reading it and reading it and it still feels like it's not good enough lol and sorry it's long I couldn't find a good time for me to break it into two chapters

At the doctor’s, Dr. Ahlberg held up his ankle. it was swollen but a lot less than it was before, the purple fading to a light pink.

“Not that bad, just a sprain. It only hurts that much because you keep walking on it,” Dr. Ahlberg said, flashing a smile. He had deep skin and salt and pepper hair, and was very charming in Jim’s opinion. 

“If I promise to be good d’you think I can play Friday? Bones said I couldn’t….”

Dr. Ahlberg shook his head, grinning. “Bones seems to be entirely correct, James. You will need a full week and a couple of days before you can do that and even then I would suggest staying off your foot. I would also suggest wrapping it with an elastic bandage if you have any, and definitely continuing icing your ankle.”

Jim stood up, his weight on his good ankle, and shook the doctor’s hand. “Thank you sir.”

 

For the rest of the day, Jim followed David around stores as he went, first picking up bandages for Jim’s ankle. They stopped by different warehouse stores and wood shops, David always starting up pleasant small talk with workers that he passed. Jim couldn’t help but wish that he was his dad instead of Frank. 

“Technically he ain’t your daddy anyway,” Bones would say. He was right, but didn’t change the fact that he still lived in his house, in his dad’s chair. The only thing Jim knew about his dad for sure from his mom was that he held Jim in that chair. Once, and one time only, before the accident. And now, Frank drank in that chair.

During the day, David got a text from Bones on his phone. Since he was driving, David blindly pulled out his phone from his pocket and passed it to Jim.

“How are you feeling & how did the doctors go” and “Spock wanted to know too” buzzed in in short succession. 

“Went well! Only minor sprain w/ bandages.”

“How come I cant reach you on your own phone I texted you twice this morning”

“Oops. I thought I told Spock my phone broke.” 

There was no response after that, so Jim just set the phone back into David’s cup holder and resumed what he was doing before, staring out the passenger window and aimlessly watch things pass by. It wasn’t long before they were home and Bones was waiting there already, leaning on his car, with Spock’s car parked directly behind his.   
David parked his car and headed into the house with a cheery wave to Bones and Spock. Jim hopped out of the truck onto his good ankle, and the other two made their way over to him.

“Jim, Spock and I have been talkin’,” Bones said, automatically taking the role of Jim’s crutch. 

“Uh oh,” Jim laughed out nervously, his hand that wasn’t gripping Bones’ shoulder was wringing itself out, fingers clenching and unclenching.

“We understand your hesitation,” Bones began.

“Yet we urge you to call your mother as soon as possible.” Spock finished, his voice so gentle that instead of calming Jim, it irritated him. 

Jim let go of Bones and pushed himself away, his brow furrowing and a bitter scowl growing. He went to take another step to put distance between them but accidentally went on the wrong foot, causing him to yelp and fall over. Bones and Spock both reached to help him up but Jim held up his hands in rejection.

“Stop helping me.” Jim said, teeth grinding as he put his good foot beneath him. “Listen,” he began, before Spock cut him off.

Neither Bones nor Jim noticed that during this, Spock had begun to look… well, more than frustrated.

“Jim, I don’t understand.” Spock’s voice was harsh and his eyes were narrow.

“Wha-?” Jim asked, partially in confusion at Spock.

“You help almost everyone you see, you get your friends coffees for the fun of it, you don’t tell your mom when you’re abused so she can be happy, and you,” He took a breath, his tone incredulous and almost annoyed, “You take a beating to help a stranger from a bully.”

Bones was focused on Spock, his eyes wide with interest as Spock continued in an exasperated tone, “Why? Why won’t you let us, the people who care about you do the same? It is the most illogical thing I have ever heard.”

Jim looked down at his hands, which he was wringing vigorously until he lifted both of them up to Spock and Bones.

With a sigh, he asked, “Please help me up?”

 

\-----  
Jim borrowed Leonard’s phone and Leonard and Spock went inside to give Jim space. They sat in uncomfortable silence at the edge of their seats, jumping at every slight noise that might indicate Jim was finished. Minutes turned into hours, but neither relaxed. Leonard’s stomach growled, and he muttered under his breath about “dinner.”  
Finally, Jim limped back inside. His eyes were red, and he looked emotionally exhausted. 

“I need a nap,” Jim said in a throaty voice. He passed the phone back, deadpanned as he stated, “She’s on her way tomorrow. I told her everything.”

Leonard stood and pulled him into a gentle but fierce hug. “I’m so proud of you. Rest now, kid. I love you.”

“Love you too, Bones.” Jim mumbled back, already setting himself into the empty space of the sofa. Spock tried to move over to give Jim more room, but he simply set his head in Spock’s lap. He curled into the fetal position on his side facing away from Spock, and Leonard set a blanket on top of him.

“Any chance you’re stayin’ again tonight?” Leonard asked with a quiet smile, nodding at Spock.

“I had already asked my mother. If it is not a burden, it would make sense if I did.” Spock replied, pausing when Jim shifted with a sigh.

“Alright. I’m gonna head upstairs and tell dad. Update him a bit. I’ll be back down later because we all still need another meal.” Leonard took another look at Jim before he headed upstairs. 

Spock felt uncertain about appropriate hand placement, one hand naturally finding itself on Jim’s arm. The other, well, Spock had seen this done in movies before to comfort someone. The other hand he rested on Jim’s head to thread itself through Jim’s hair.   
At the touch Jim stiffened, and Spock lifted his hand immediately. 

“I apologize.” Spock said, but Jim lifted his head so Spock’s hand would be on it again. 

“S’okay.” Jim mumbled, and he sat his head back down. 

Tentatively, Spock set his hand back on Jim’s head. For a few minutes he moved his hand around experimentally, finding that the sides of his head made him cringe but the top of his head was safe. Jim seemed to snuggle closer as Spock continually stroked his fingers through the hair there. 

As Spock began to drift, he felt Jim startle in his lap. Jim bolted upright, and he kept spinning his head around looking for danger. 

Taking Jim’s hand as gently as possible to not frighten him more, Spock said, “You are safe Jim, I have you.”

This had a calming effect on Jim, and he fell back into Spock’s arms, his head now resting on Spock’s shoulder. He let a content sigh and they both started to doze off together again, in an awkward yet warm embrace.

 

They were fast asleep when there was a loud banging the front door, waking them both. Jim’s face was filled with alarm and Spock shifted so he was a barrier between Jim and the door.

“Jim! I know you’re fucking in there you- “ The rest of the sentence was muffled by more banging on the front door.

“Frank.” Jim whispered in horror, starting to panic. His eyes were wide and his breath picked up. Spock reacted quickly, pulling Jim to stand with him and hauling him upstairs as the banging grew harder. Every other step Jim had to put his full weight on Spock, but filled with panic of his own Spock didn’t even slow. Leonard and David both came out of David’s room looking confused but defensive in traditional Mccoy fashion. 

“Frank,” Jim said again, that was all he could say. He was visibly shaking, sweating in fear. 

“JIM! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU I’M DRAGGING YOUR ASS HOME BY YOUR EAR!” Came the slurred roar from behind the door. 

“Jesus almighty,” David ground out angrily, “Who does he think he is?” Both he and Leonard filed quickly downstairs. “This is what you were trying to tell me, weren’t you Lenny?”

Jim clutched Spock tightly, his hands gripping the fabric of Spock’s uniform. His breaths were now punctuated in barely audible whimpers, and Spock lowered him to the ground so Jim could sit. 

“Frank, go home, Jim isn’t here.” David called from behind the door. His usual gentle giant voice was now commanding and coarse. 

The banging paused for a moment, as Frank seemed to consider it. 

“If he is… then Jimmy, I want you to know: If I ever catch your worthless ass back at home I’ll make you wish you were never born, you pathetic waste of space!” The cry was punctuated with a hard kick to the door. Leonard could hear receding footsteps, and he stood there fuming for a few seconds. He started towards the door but his father stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. 

“Leonard. We can just call the police.” He seemed unconvinced himself, looking as angry as his son as he took deep breaths through his nose. 

Leonard’s face was red, as he brushed past his dad and out the door, slamming it shut behind him. Jim pulled Spock up with him to help him over to the upstairs window, where they could see Leonard racing over to his sidewalk, where he picked up their mostly-empty trashcan. He went towards the hobbling drunk Frank and hurled the can at him with all his might, knocking him flat on his face.   
Jim let out a fierce hissing ‘yes’ at that, tears that Spock hadn’t noticed before drying on his cheeks.  
Leonard then turned and walked back inside with a proud grin on his face. 

Frank struggled to stand, cursing and falling over again, before he staggered into the night. 

“Hardass, go call the authorities on that dick.” David said as he attempted to sound angry but ended up with a small smile. He gave Leonard a small slap on the shoulder, then looked up at Jim. “Are you okay son?” 

“Yeah,” Jim said, still a bit shaken up and pale but he wore a faint grin nonetheless. 

“I’d hate to say this, but I don’t know how safe you will be here, Jim.” David sighed, as he opened his front door to inspect the damage.

Spock spoke up. “He can stay at my home.” Spock heard Jim gasp and could feel his gaze on him.

Even David looked at Spock questioningly. “Ya sure, son?”

Spock nodded grimly. “We have plenty of room. And Frank is not aware of it’s location, meaning he would be safe. My family would be happy to temporarily take him in, we can afford to feed him and obviously I can drive him to school with me.” Spock looked at Jim, his eyes filled with hope. “Mother has been worried recently. With your permission I would like to explain to her your situation, to ease her unnecessary worries of me and to allow her to help you.”

“That makes sense,” Jim said slowly. He broke eye contact with Spock to look down at his hands. “I’m sorry I made her worry. She doesn’t deserve that. I wouldn’t burden your family would I?” His voice was small again, and Spock felt a mixture of irritation and care. Irritation that Jim would think for even a second he could be a burden in his home, care because he desperately wanted to fix that perspective. 

Spock pulled Jim’s face up with a gentle hand on his chin, so that he could look into his eyes. “Jim, you could never be.” 

 

Leonard was quietly sifting around the kitchen, deciding what to make for dinner. As Jim and Spock were preparing their beds to go to sleep for the night, a woman came home. She was around David’s height if not taller, and had fire engine red hair. She wore nurse scrubs beneath a grey jacket and set her purse on the ground by the door.

“What the hell is on my door and why is there garbage in the street?” She called upstairs, before she did a double take seeing Jim and Spock who were sitting at the sofa both dressed in some of Leonard’s clothes (which were big on them both). “Howdy Jim dear, and new son, I’m April, Leo’s mama.” She stepped over to pat Spock on she shoulder with a motherly smile. She then kissed Jim’s cheek and ruffled his hair gently. 

As she stepped back, she said, “Well, I was wondering who was crashing on my couch last night! Sorry I’ve been so rude and haven’t introduced myself yet, uh,”

“My name is Spock,” Spock filled in.

“Spock. It just seems like we haven’t had the time to meet!” She then turned to see David descending the stairs, hands on hips. “So what’s going on again?”

Leonard joined his family in the living room and he began at the beginning. April sat at the loveseat across from the couch while Leonard and David stood together by the stairs. Jim kept his head down, unable to make eye contact with April who grew increasingly angry and sympathetic. Spock or David occasionally interjected, and Spock held onto Jim, one arm thrown over his shoulders. He was unused to such prolonged physical contact and wasn’t sure if he was comfortable with it, but he recognized that it did help to calm Jim down and even comfort him. After a time when he had become more accustomed to it, Spock found himself reluctant to let go of Jim.

“Darlin’,” April breathed, reaching out to rub Jim’s shoulder. “I can’t believe we didn’t know. We are so, so sorry. We have always thought of you as one of our own. We should have seen it earlier-”

“No, it’s not your fault.” Jim hurriedly said. “I should have come to you earlier.”

“Regardless,” David said as he seated himself next to his wife. He looked awkward and definitely looked uncomfortable at expressing raw emotion. “We are the adults here and we should have known. You are not at fault at all, son. The blame rests solely on Frank, not you. Keep that in mind. We love you son.”

Jim had tears welling up in his eyes again, this time slightly happy as he choked out, “Thank you. I love you guys too.”

 

After talking and joking, attempting to lighten the mood for a few hours, April announced it was time for bed for everyone.   
April and David sandwiched Jim into a hug that made him laugh as they said goodnight, and Spock could not help the smile that came through on his face. Seeing Jim laugh and smile genuinely again just like he had when they first met made him feel undeniably happy.   
Leonard made them all sandwiches, gave Jim more praise, and told him he was proud of him again before he followed his parents upstairs.   
When they had finished eating, Spock went to start setting up another makeshift bed by the sofa but Jim stopped him. 

“Uh,” Jim mumbled awkwardly. “D’you mind if we share?”

Spock looked at him dumbly, attempting to figure out why Jim would want to sleep with him but overwhelmed with eagerness to do so to think straight.

“Nah, you’re right, dumb idea anyways,” Jim said, turning back.

“I did not say that. I am unopposed to the proposition, Jim.” Spock moved the bottommost blanket so that it would comfortably fit two. 

They laid down, facing one another.

“M’sorry, Spock. I just didn’t sleep well last night but when I fell asleep near you earlier…” Jim whispered.

“This is nothing to be sorry about. I am happy to help you in any way I can, Jim. I am not uncomfortable, but glad that my presence can help. Rest is very important.” 

Jim shifted closer, one leg wrapping around Spock’s. Jim continued to shift for a few seconds until he was comfortable. His breath soon slowed, and he was asleep. Spock followed Jim not that long after.

 

The next morning, they woke up wrapped around one another uncomfortably, both boys sweaty but unwilling to move away. 

“Get up you guys,” Leonard prodded at Jim’s foot with his own. “We have school.” 

When Spock pried himself partially away from Jim, Leonard tossed a bundle of clothes at him.

“I washed our uniforms last night, I know you haven’t had a change in clothes for a while.” Leonard said, eyeing Jim’s arm that still clung around Spock’s side. 

“Thank you,” Spock was grateful, he had been self conscious wearing dirty clothes to school the day before. 

He fully pulled himself from under Jim, and went to the downstairs bathroom to get dressed. When he came back out, Jim passed him a quesadilla that David made for him, his hair sticking up in the back in an endearing way.

“I’m staying home until you boys get back to make sure no more trouble comes to Jim.” David said with a cheerful wink at Jim, acting playful to lighten the mood and wake the boys up.

“Affirmative. Leonard will take me back here immediately after school then you and I,” Spock said to Jim, “will go back to my house. There we can talk to my mother.”

Then before Spock knew it, he was out the door and on the way to school again. 

In the car, Leonard paused before he turned his key.

“Thank you,” He said, looking down at his shoe. There was an unrecognizable emotion on his face. Guilt? “For getting Jim to agree to this. I don’t get why me badgering him for years wouldn’t change his mind but _you_ came in and just got him to agree.” He sighed, and rubbed an eye. “It both pisses me off and makes me grateful to you. You helped save my dumbass best friend. I owe you, Spock.”

“There is no need to thank me, Leonard. You know I care for him as you do.” Spock said, feeling strangely small in his seat.

“Yeah.” Leonard said, a small smile blooming on his face. “Lucky kid,” He chuckled, turning the key and pulling out onto the street.

 

Spock’s classes passed by in a blur, his practice carrying on without a hitch. Usually he would be extremely hyperfocused on that, but since he was already distracted by Jim he wasn’t. Similarly, in his math class he skimmed by, taking notes he knew he would have to read over later. 

“So? What’s the word on Jim?” Nyota asked, pulling a piece off of her bagel to pass to Spock. Today her hair was in fine braids that she had pulled into a ponytail, hanging down her back. Eric, who Spock remembered from the rugby lunch Jim took him to, continually ogled her throughout the class.

“He is completely alright. Just sick, that is all.” Spock felt himself cringe internally at the weak lie, moreso when he could see Nyota’s disbelief.

“If it’s none of my business, you don’t have to tell me. But is Jim really okay? That’s all I care about.” 

“Yes. He is safe.”

Nyota’s shoulders seemed to sag slightly from relief at hearing that, before she straightened her posture again. Spock internally chuckled, thinking about their dance teacher’s lectures on the importance of good posture. She thanked Spock, then started back to work, but not before Eric came up to ask her for help on a question. 

 

Leonard found him after school, and they drove straight back to his house. Spock had come to enjoy Leonard’s gruff company and appreciate his personality. However, he was awfully impatient to get back to Jim. As soon as they got home, they saw Jim sitting outside, his uniform in his hand wearing Leonard’s basketball shorts and a black shirt.   
Spock pulled his bag out of the car and thanked Leonard, permitting him to give him a quick hug.  
Jim hugged Leonard and he helped him over to Spock’s car. 

“Text me when you get there safe, ya hear?” Leonard said, and he stood at the sidewalk and watched them as they pulled away. 

Jim waved at him from the window, and then they were off. He asked Spock questions about his day,and Spock even remembered to tell Jim of Nyota’s worries and love.

“Shit,” Jim said with a wide smile. “I didn’t know she cared that much! She has always been there for me. I need to get her something nice when I can.”

“Do you have a job?” Spock asked, curious where he got his money.

“Yeah. I don’t get called in often but I work at an arcade! I clean stuff and I’m also a cashier.” Jim laughed, obviously soaking in the memories. “I hope they don’t call me in soon, I’d hate to tell them no because of my ankle.”

“How is your ankle?” 

“A lot better, except sometimes I just take a wrong step and it’s the. Fucking. Worst. The swelling had gone down, which April says is good.”

“She’s a doctor, correct?”

“Pediatrics nurse, but she’s qualified to be a doctor. She’s been trying to move up for ages.” 

They pulled into Spock’s driveway after a few more minutes of talking, and pulled to a stop. Spock grabbed his bag and Jim looked at him with a sigh. 

“Dammit.”

“What?” Spock asked, going over to Jim’s side to help him out.

“My backpack, it’s still at Frank’s.”

“You are not going back there to retrieve it.” Spock replied sharply.

“No, but it’s Wednesday, right? It’s poker night at his friend Barney’s. Assuming he wasn’t arrested last night, he won’t be home anyway, maybe Bones could get it?” 

“That could work.” Spock mused. “We will figure everything out at a later time.”

They proceeded into the house, slipping their shoes off at the door. Spock set his bag down by the doorway as well, and noticed a black suitcase next to his father’s office door, meaning that he was home. 

“Father? Mother?” Spock called, as they worked their way over to the living room. Both Sarek and Amanda were seated there on the sofa, drinking glasses of wine together.

“Welcome home, son,” Sarek said, with a questioning but playful gaze at Jim. “And who is this?”

Amanda smacked his arm lightly, laughing. “That’s Jim, dear. Jim, this is my husband and Spock’s father, Sarek.”

Jim leaned over and shook his hand, saying, “Nice to meet you sir.” He moved back over to Spock’s side, and Spock couldn’t help but notice Jim seemed nervous around his father. Hoping to calm him, he put a gentle hand on his forearm, catching his eye. He attempted to give off a reassuring expression, and Jim smiled back, blue eyes crinkling. In that moment he realized Jim had small freckles around his nose and cheekbones.

“Spock, you said you had something important to ask us?” Amanda asked, eyeing the interaction. 

“Affirmative,” Spock answered, diverting his attention back to his mother. “I do not know for how long, but can Jim live with us?”

“Not that you aren’t welcome here, but how come you need to stay Jim?” Amanda asked, her hand that wasn’t holding her glass resting on Sarek’s knee.

Under their gaze, Jim shifted uncomfortably. “Um, well, it’s Frank.”

“Who is Frank? Your father?” Sarek asked gently as he leaned forward with interest.

“My dad died when I was a baby in an accident. Frank is my step dad, not legally I guess, but I’ve been living with him since 7th grade. He’s been… bad to me.” Jim always looked shaken when he talked about Frank, and it fired up Spock like nothing else having to see that. 

Luckily, Amanda recognized it as well, and squeezed Sarek’s knee when he started to ask more questions. 

“Is your mother alive? Does she know?” Amanda questioned, her eyebrows twisted with worry.

“Yes, and yes. I called her yesterday. She should be leaving today and be here tomorrow or the next day.” Jim replied, his voice wavering slightly. He wrung his hands together, then blurted, “We are going to take Frank to court. I mean, we called the cops on him last night for trying to break into Bones’ house.” He chuckled nervously as Amanda looked at him, shocked. 

“Trying to get to you?”

“Yes, and that’s why we came here instead of staying at Bones’ house. He doesn’t know where ‘here’ is.” 

Amanda looked at Sarek, and he nodded. “You are more than welcome to stay here for as long as you need.” Sarek offered, and Spock felt Jim relax.

“Now that I think of it though,” Amanda mused with a frown, “We don’t have another room for you.”

“Mother, my thinking was that we could set up the sleeping mats in my room. I’m sure Jim doesn’t mind sharing… do you?” Spock asked, looking over at Jim.

Giving off a flashing smile and a quirked eyebrow, Jim laughed, “After last night it would be weird if I did.” After stating that, his face grew pink with embarrassment thinking about the connotations that sentence could bear. “Oops.”

Spock almost smiled at that, and Amanda lifted her glass in a mock toast.

“It’s settled, then. You’re stuck here with us!” She drained her glass, then walked over to the kitchen to rinse it out. 

“I can do chores and stuff too, if you want. Thank you all so much.” Jim offered, and Sarek shook his head.

“Nonsense,” he stated. “You are our guest here, and will be treated as such.” 

“Jim,” Spock urged, “we should go upstairs and set up your area.” He then focused on his father. “I would like to discuss your trip soon, Father, but I am gratified you returned safely.” With that, he led Jim upstairs to his room.

 

\----  
Spock’s room was exactly how Jim expected it to be: neat. There was a lovely stained bookshelf overflowing with a variety of books, an organized desk with an attached adjustable lamp, and a closet where all clothes were hung in a color-coordinated order.   
Unexpectedly, his ceiling was covered in stars. 

“Wow,” Jim said, looking up and recognizing the Ursa Major. “This is beautiful, Spock. You get to see this every night?”

“With the exception of the past two days, yes,” Spock was making an attempt at a joke, and just the thought of that alone was cute to Jim, and made him burst out laughing.

After his laughter died down, Spock asked, “How will your mother find you when she arrives? Your phone is not working therefore she has no way to reach you.”

“No worries,” Jim replied cooly, which made Spock roll his eyes. “She’s gonna go straight to Bones’, and he will call you on your phone.” 

“You thought of everything, haven’t you?” Spock asked, watching Jim lie down on his floor and look up at his ceiling. “Get up, I need to set up the mats for you to sleep there.” 

Jim groaned, and held up a hand. Spock grabbed it, and pulled him to a standing position. He went to let go, but Jim did not, They were so close Spock could hear Jim’s soft breathing over his own heartbeat, and he looked down at their clasped hands for a few seconds before Jim let go, laughing nervously as he stepped out of the way.   
Like he was in a dream, it took Spock a couple of seconds before he came back to himself, shaking his head.

“These the mats?” Jim asked and he held two thin mattresses up for Spock to see. 

 

At dinnertime, Bones came by to bring one very grateful Jim Kirk his backpack, as well as a plastic bag filled with his clothes and another bag with hygiene products.  
Jim went upstairs with the bags as Bones introduced himself to Amanda and Sarek. They invited him to stay for dinner, but he respectfully declined, stating that he had a lot of homework and cleaning to do. After Jim came back downstairs and thanked Bones for what seemed like the millionth time, Bones headed home and Jim sat down with Spock’s family to eat dinner.   
Afterwards, Jim and Spock got ready for bed and sat on Spock’s bed. Spock had his laptop pulled out on his lap. This was abnormal for him since he preferred to keep it at his desk, but had hoped to entertain Jim with a tv show. He pulled up his Netflix account and let Jim pick the show.

“Friends! I fuckin’ loved this show. Haven’t watched it in ages, though.”

“Why not?” Spock asked as he adjusted so his legs were extended in front of him. He set his laptop on top of his legs, and in turn Jim scooted closer and laid on his side, head propped up by his hand.

“Frank stopped paying for tv as soon as mom left.” Jim shrugged, hoping Spock didn’t notice the faint cold sweat that always formed when Jim thought about Frank. He hated himself for letting himself panic over it, but couldn’t help it.

Spock picked a random episode, and they settled on a mini-marathon from there.

“Hey Spock?” Jim asked, as they were partway through the second episode.

“Yes?” Spock asked, pulling his eyes away from the woman named Monica who had changed her dress for a man named Chandler.

“Is your family vegetarian? I know I've only been here twice but I've never seen meat here.”

Spock felt flattered that Jim had taken the time to notice such a thing, but marked it off as just Jim craving meat, as it was a natural part of his diet. “Affirmative. While you stay here if you need protein we will provide meat for you I’m sure, there is no need for worry Jim.”

Being so close to Jim, Spock could practically feel Jim snort. “Of all the things to worry about, I don’t think meat is a priority.” He paused, before he added, “But thank you Spock. Really, for everything. You have helped me more than you probably know.” 

At about 3 am, Jim woke up and found that he had fallen asleep next to Spock, his head resting on his chest. The laptop was still on Spock’s lap, with the ‘are you still there?’ page pulled up. It would make sense for him to get up then, and move to his own bed, but he instead decided to indulge himself and shift closer still, his eyes closing again as he drifted back to sleep.  
Spock was the first to wake in the morning, and tried in vain to get up without waking Jim as well. 

“Huh?” Jim asked blearily, looking around.

“You can go back to sleep for a while, Jim. I wished to start getting myself prepared that way we won’t crowd in the bathroom together.”

There was a soft sleepy smile on Jim’s face, “Nah, I’d better get up too.”

 

At school, Jim and Spock walked into the cafeteria where his team mates all clamored around Jim. Pavel even went for a hug, which started a hug-Jim train where one by one all of the boys gave Jim a hug. Sulu, who Bones had informed about the situation with Jim’s permission, brought him a coffee and a gift card from Gaila, who Sulu had in turn told. Jim ended with happy tears forming in his eyes as he thanked everyone.   
When the first period bell rang, Bones walked with Jim to his English class. Jim tried to walk in early to avoid any ‘where were you’ looks, and luckily, there was none.

“This is a folder of the content you have missed,” His teacher, Mrs. Alstot said, passing him a manilla folder. “Glad to have you back, James. Believe it or not, I started to miss your banter in class.” She smiled, then nodded over to his desk for him to sit.  
Second period Jim asked his partner Annie Miphon to catch him up but it turned out that he didn’t miss much other than a quiz that he was already prepped for.  
In third, Chekov scooted close to Jim and demanded to know why he was absent. Jim, at this point, was used to people not asking. He stuttered, fumbled for words, but under Chekov’s curious eyes he froze.

“Sick. I was sick.” Jim finally worked out.

“Are you okay?” Chekov asked, and Jim winced slightly. He was fine lying about most things to most everyone, but lying to Chekov- who has only been blatantly honest with Jim about everything under the sun- it made him feel cruel, somehow.

“I haven’t been, but I’m gonna be soon.” Jim said carefully, hoping he wouldn’t worry Chekov as much as he’s been worrying Bones’ and Spock’s families. 

Instead, Chekov smiled kindly, looking older than he actually was. “I am wery glad. If I can help you at all, please let me know. You have been a true friend to me, and a vonderful keptin. I vish to show you the same kindness.”

Jim slung an arm around Chekov’s shoulders, squeezing him into a half hug. “Thank you.” When he pulled back, Jim cleared his throat and wrung his hands together. “Anyway, what have I been missing?”

 

After school, Jim went to find Spock. Spock was a bit taller than most other people, so typically Jim had no issue finding him. He made his way to the front of the school with the intention of meeting Spock by his car when instead he found Spock, Bones, and none other than his mother there, talking.  
Since the last time he had seen her, Winona had gotten a few more grey hairs on her head, but was still fundamentally the same. She had a fierce but motherly look in her eyes and her face was shaped with faint laugh lines. Her mostly blond hair was pulled back in a bun and she was still in her military fatigues.  
Bones noticed Jim first, and caused both Spock and Winona, who had seemed to be in deep conversation, to turn and see him.  
Jim wasn’t sure how to feel when Winona ran up and pulled him into a tight hug. She was a couple inches shorter than him but slung her arms around his shoulders anyway, pulling him down. He smiled like he knew he was supposed to, but did not feel it. Over her shoulder, Jim saw Bones with his usual gruff smile saying something to Spock while Spock watched them silently.  
Pulling back, Winona had a melancholy look on her face as she searched Jim’s eyes.

“I am so sorry, Jim.” she cupped one cheek with her hand, and Jim put his over hers.

“Mom, it’s okay. You’re home now.” 

Winona smiled, then had a triumphant gleam in her eye. “Frank’s in jail right now. Takin’ him to court by Saturday.”

As Bones let out a gleeful holler, Jim nodded soberly, swallowing thickly. “That’s great! That’s great.”

 

\------  
Later that night, Winona sat in Spock’s backyard, talking with Amanda. As they did, Jim sat with Spock on his bed. Jim was emotionally tired, and it confused Spock. He had assumed that the arrival of his mother would make Jim happier, feel more safe and loved as he should. He mentally debated within himself whether or not he should inquire Jim on the matter, but luckily Jim brought it up on his own. He tended to shift when he was about to talk, and he did just that, moving one leg so it rested on top of Spock’s.

“I don’t get it Spock.” Jim said absently, fidgeting with one of Spock’s pillows which he held in his lap. Spock looked up from the book in his own lap, the back of which he had been considering with little interest. “Why don’t I feel good? Mom’s home, Frank is locked up.”

Spock was at a loss for words, out of fear that anything he might say would upset Jim further. Instead, the two sat in silence until Jim spoke up again. 

“When I look at my mom, I feel this, I don’t know… resentment towards her?” His voice got softer, quieter, like he wanted to say it out loud but was unsure if he wanted Spock to hear. “It feels like she abandoned me. After dad died, she couldn’t even look my way for months without crying. Then she let fucking Frank into our lives. Then she fucking left. She left me. First opening she found for engineering in the military she was on the plane before I could ask her ‘don’t go’. Then whenever she called I never could ask her why.”

He stopped, but something in his voice told Spock he had more to say. “Why what, Jim?” He prompted, his hand going on Jim’s calf in an attempt to grant Jim some comfort. 

“Why I wasn’t good enough to make her stay.” 

The sentence was the quietest of them all, and Jim’s voice cracked at the end of it. Spock recognized the cues; Jim clenched his jaw, tilted his head back, blinking rapidly. He was fighting hard not to cry. 

Still unsure of what to say, Spock simply started running his hand up and down Jim’s calf awkwardly, and said what his mother always did when Spock was internalizing his emotions: “Just let it out.” 

Spock sort of discovered but also sort of always knew that Jim was beautiful when he cried. Ugly yes, his eyes puffing and his mouth curling into a warped frown, but still somehow beautiful. The sobs Jim let out were still half-choked down, but Spock was still grateful he was ‘letting it out’. Jim reached over for Spock, and without hesitation Spock pulled Jim closer, molding himself to Jim in a hug that Jim could relax into. Without hesitation, without thinking, without logic, Spock kissed Jim’s forehead softly, sweetly. Jim was tired and hummed in content in response. 

“You are good enough. You don’t need your mother or anyone else to prove that to you.” Spock said, and he waited for a few minutes, as he knew Jim would fall asleep soon.

When he did, he remorsefully slipped out from under Jim. He left Jim lying comfortably in his bed as he went downstairs. He was curious, and wanted to know what Amanda and Winona were talking about. The windows that faced out to the backyard were wide open, so he could comfortably listen to the conversation.

Spock recognized Winona’s voice, and it sounded like she was finishing a story. Laughing, she said, “He was never the same after that! Neither was I, if I’m honest. After you see a kid with fudge coming out of his nose- that really changes your answer when they ask, ‘do you want any toppings on your ice cream?’.”  
Both Amanda and Winona laughed at that, but when the laughing stopped, there was only an awkward silence left.

“How soon will you be moving back here?” Amanda asked, “Permanently, I mean.”

There was a creaking noise, Winona undoubtedly shifting in her chair, just like how Jim does. “I could technically stay, and have my things shipped to me,” Winona said noncommittally. 

“You sound like this is the last place you want to be,” Amanda said, in her probing therapist voice that Spock recognized. It was an unnamed mix of sympathy, understanding, and curiosity, that Spock assumed every therapist mastered.

There was a long span of silence, and Winona inhaled deeply. Her unwilling attitude made Spock clench his jaw, but he continued to listen, waiting for a response. 

“If I’m honest?” Winona paused again. Amanda of course, did not push her, but Spock was close to jumping up and demanding her to be honest. “I hate it here. George died here. And Jim, Jesus Christ, he looks more and more like his daddy as he grows. I didn’t know what to do, I thought he would be safe with Frank I thought he was a good man-” She was babbling now, her voice had raised in tempo and she started to sound congested. “It was after George died, that’s when things went bad. I was, am, depressed. I still have dreams about George’s last phone call to me, Amanda.” She sniffed,and then wept, “Fuck, I’m an awful mom.”

Spock nodded to himself vehemently, but Amanda said, “No. You were young, you didn’t know what to do. But why didn’t you take Jim with you?”

Winona choked out, “And take him from Bones? No, not even that. His whole life was here. He didn’t even know his daddy, doesn’t even know where he died. I thought Jim could be happy here. Amanda, I can’t stay here. Even now, this whole goddamn place is making me ill. I’ll have to take Jim out of school, have him move with me to the base-”

Listening to Winona prattle on made Spock anxious. He did not want Jim moving away, and was worried how the move would affect JIm.

Amanda hummed as she processed what Winona said while the other woman cried quietly. 

“I think…” Amanda said slowly, “We could do something that would benefit everyone.”

With a sniff, Winona asked, “What?” There was a measure of equal hope and disbelief in her voice, and she shifted in her chair again. Spock himself positioned himself for more optimal hearing, curious. His foot was numb from the way he was sitting before, but ignored it as Amanda went to speak again.

“With your consent of course- Jim could stay with us.”

With that, Spock felt his mouth open with shock before he clamped it shut, and Amanda gasped lightly. There was a steel and seriousness to Amanda’s voice, and Spock knew she meant business. 

“Amanda, you can’t be… are you serious?” Spock felt as hopeful as Winona sounded, but that made his stomach twist. He felt like he was missing something, but typically mothers don’t jump at the opportunity to leave their child they claim to love… twice. The entire concept distracted Spock so he decided to file it away for later inspection, and rather turned back into the conversation.

“Winona, I am very serious. You obviously, no offense love, are not mentally fit to be a mother, especially this late in the game. It might risk yours and Jim’s mental health. Jim has been respectful and kind to me and Sarek, and we adore him. He is more than welcome to stay with us until he is prepared to move out.”

“What if he wants to stay for college?” Amanda asked, worry tinting her hope. Spock shook his head to himself, remembering from a conversation Jim and he had had that he wanted to go to Washington State, bewildered at Amanda’s lack of knowledge.

“Then he stays for college! As long as he doesn’t suddenly flip a switch and is awful to us 24/7, I assure you Winona he is welcome to stay with us.” Spock imagined his mother spreading her hands as she said this, and he could hear the smile in her voice.

Amanda let out a sob. “Thank you, bless you.” 

There was a longer pause now, before Winona asked, “Do you have a place to stay tonight?”

“I was planning on finding a nearby hotel-”

“Nonsense. At least rest here for the night, we can set up a bed on my couch.”

They both started to move like they were to go inside, so Spock slipped back upstairs to his room. He was still bewildered from the conversation, the knowledge that Jim would never leave again. It made him feel unbelievably happy, he stopped just inside his doorframe and allowed himself a grin in the darkness.   
Jim had wrapped himself into the corner between the wall and the bed, arms curled tight around himself. Spock crawled onto his bed next to him, careful not to touch him or wake him, before he fell asleep.

 

In the morning, Spock woke up uncharacteristically late, almost forgetting it was Friday. He woke up groggy, also uncharacteristic for him. The most uncharacteristic thing about Spock’s morning though, was that he was woken up by an unbelievably happy Jim Kirk. He practically pounced on Spock, hands on either side of Spock’s head as he spoke.

“Spock, wake up! Mom just told me- Amanda too- that I could either go with mom back to her base or stay here and live with you guys!” He was gasping for breath, and Spock was very sure that he had run upstairs.

Perking up a little at that, Spock queried, “What did you choose?”

Jim rolled his eyes and grinned, “You, dummy. Duh.” He paused, looking into Spock’s eyes for what felt like a second too long. As he blushed, Jim cleared his throat and pulled back, sitting up. “Or Bones, or anyone! Anyway, so mom’s staying for Frank’s trial and then she’s leaving again.” 

Spock cocked his head as he sat up as well, studying Jim’s expression warily. “And how does her retreat feel?”

Jim’s smile faltered,but only slightly. “I’m… sorta relieved. I’m still really fucked up that she left in the first place but hey, what’s some abandonment and inferiority complexes compared to _getting to live with one of your best friends_? Besides, she’s happy and I’m happy. She’s still my mom and I love her, and I wanna see her happy.” One of Jim’s hands picked at the dead skin around the other hand’s nails. His voice trailed off, like he had something else to say, but rather he perked up suddenly, and said, “Come on, we gotta get to school. And if it’s cool, I gotta get coffees for the team! It’s another game today.”

Spock nodded, and got up slowly.

 

Downstairs, once Jim and Spock were dressed, Amanda and Winona were in the kitchen, where Winona leaned against the counter top with a coffee in her hand. Amanda had her hair tied back, and was tending to the tea she was fixing. 

Winona couldn’t exactly meet Jim’s eyes, but smiled at them.

“Good morning you two! Officially! You boys ready for school?” Amanda asked, turning to see them.

“Yep!” Jim said, his cheerfulness regained. Spock felt no need to respond, thinking to himself that it was obvious they were ready, as they were both wearing their school uniforms. 

 

Once in the car, Spock and Jim drove to the usual coffee shop, and Jim only stumbled once. 

“It hurts still but just at the randomest times,” Jim smiled apologetically, and Spock helped Jim inside the coffee shop despite Jim’s reassurances that he was fine. 

Inside, Jim took a deep inhale through his nose and grinned. Spock recalled Jim’s teammate Scotty referring to it as a “shit-eating grin”, and somehow that fit in this moment.   
Jim moved ahead of Spock, and leaned over the bar as he watched Gaila refill an empty machine, straining to get her attention. When his attempts failed, Jim cleared his throat in an almost satirical manner. 

She turned, her curls bouncing about her face. Her expression instantly lit up at seeing Jim, and she almost dumped the mystery contents of her machine in her rush to get over to Jim. 

“Heard you were having a rough time, Jimmy.” Gaila said, squeezing him tight, before she pulled back and gave him a once over. Jim’s cheek was healed nicely, the scab already fading to new pink flesh. “I tried callin’ ya, how come you never picked up?”

“Phone is definitely dead. I’ll buy a new one when I can. I can’t believe you actually missed me, Gail!” Jim grinned, and Gaila looked from Jim over to Spock, and she winked at him.

“Spock, it’s nice to see you.” Gaila said, pulling out a cup. “You want the same thing you got last time?” When Spock nodded in response, Gaila went to work.

Jim moved to stand behind Spock, and bent so his chin could rest on Spock’s shoulder. Spock had noticed Jim had become more physical with Spock, but could not recall when the increase had started. Typically, Spock knew it would make Spock uneasy, but already he was relaxing into Jim’s warmth as Gaila looked on with a raised eyebrow. Spock briefly considered replicating something he had read in a novel, where person a rested their head on person b, and person b leaned back so their heads were touching. 

Before he could however, Gaila asked, “are you two together?” 

Jim pulled away from Spock and stood straight, adjusting his uniform sweater. “No,” he said, a slight redness in his cheeks.

At about the same time, Spock replied, “yes.”

Both Gaila and Jim looked at Spock incredulously, and Spock returned a blank stare.

Finally, Gaila got it. Her eyes widened, and she gasped out a laugh. “OH! You mean for the transaction Spock?”

“Yes. The last time I was here with Hikaru, you asked the same question. I believed I could assume it was the same based on context, was it not?” His eyebrows furrowed in frustration, and that made Jim dart his eyes between Gaila and Spock in confusion as Gaila laughed.

“This time I am actually not asking if I need to ring you two up together. I’m assuming it’s game day, right Jimmy?” Gaila asked, pointing at Jim, awkwardly and hastily changing the subject. 

Jim puffed out his chest with pride, not missing a beat. “Yep! Even if I can’t play I still need to support my boys.” Gaila winked, then started on Jim’s coffees now that she was finished with Spock’s. 

While they waited, Jim and Spock sat together on a small sofa. The coffee shop was well decorated with lush furniture and calm acoustic music in the background, but it was also mostly empty, and Spock questioned Jim as to why that was. 

“A lot of the businesses around here don’t open until 8,” Jim said as he shrugged. “Most of their business from open until then is students and teachers.” He leaned back casually, his arm going behind Spock to rest on the back of the couch. 

Impressively, Gaila was done within 10 minutes, hauling out four cartons full of coffees. 

“Have you always carried these to school by yourself in the past?” Spock asked incredulously. With how easily Jim took the coffee trays from Gaila he obviously did. Jim gave him a sheepish smile in response, and Spock said, “Unacceptable. From here on out, I will assist with these coffees.”

“Nooonsense,” Jim said. He walked over to the counter and after he looked all the coffees over to ensure they all had their correct names and orders he set the trays down, and pulled out his wallet. “What do I owe ya?:

“Total is hell of a lot if you weren’t a rewards member with us’” Gaila said laughing. “You wanna use the buy one get one free coupon and then your 30% off?”

Jim held up his hands, relinquishing his power to her, “It’s up to you maestro.” 

Gaila clicked a few buttons on her register screen, then took Jim’s card and swiped it. “Your official total is-”

Jim held up his hands again, this time to stop her. “Don’t wanna know, Gail.” 

 

On their way back to school, Spock asked, “When did you begin getting coffee for your team?”

Looking up from the straws he was fiddling with, Jim looked over at Spock. “I have been getting Bones coffee since I got my first job. When we were staying at his house, oh boy you were lucky not to have seen Bones pre-coffee. Then in sophomore year when Coach told me I was gonna be captain, I got everyone coffees to celebrate!” Jim paused, then said under his breath, “I got them other drinks too, but that we saved for the weekend…”

Spock recollected what Nyota had informed him about Jim’s typical past weekends, Nyota called them ‘kickbacks’. Spock shook his head slightly to himself, and just hoped that Jim stayed safe. Knowing Leonard would always be present, he was reassured that Jim would be. 

Rather than make Jim carry everything, Spock elected to carry both of their backpacks and one of the trays. Jim held the other three, protesting all the way into the cafeteria. As per usual, the team was all cluttered in the back of the cafeteria, around one table. 

Scotty was the first to notice the two, and he grinned widely. Leonard was the next, looking up from Pavel, with whom he was talking. The team noticed where Scotty and Leonard were looking and all turned to welcome Jim and Spock. They set the trays on the table, and a chorus of ‘thank-you’s’ sprung up. 

“Keptin, Leonard says you can’t play tonight, is that true?” Pavel asked, holding his chocolate frappuccino with both hands so the straw rested on his bottom lip. With amusement, Spock noted to himself that Leonard was watching Pavel with interest.

Jim’s face turned to a pout, and he sighed, “yeah. Ankle isn’t fully healed, according to Bones.” 

At that, Leonard turned his attention to Jim and retorted, “You’re damn right. He could probably play fine,”  
He paused to glare at Jim as he let out a noise of protest, “But one bad hit and he could be out for the season.”

That apparently shut Jim up, and Jim turned back to Spock. “Does he mean that?” He asked under his breath tepidly. He leaned back so his mouth was right by Spock’s ear, sending shivers down his spine. In instinct, Spock flinched away from the unexpected stimuli.

Blushing, Spock leaned back towards Jim. “Yes, he means that.” 

 

The day passed just like the rest of the week had: in a blur. Before he knew it, the final bell rang and Spock was stopped by Jim in front of his locker. He looked anxious but overall jittery, his hands twisting themselves vigorously. Spock could sense an unnamed energy that made him bounce on his toes lightly.  
When he noticed Spock approaching, Jim strode over to him and clasped his shoulders. 

“Spock, we gotta go.”

“But Jim, your game-” Spock began, but Jim shook his head, quickly and more times than probably necessary.

“No time, Mom texted Bones they are in court right the fuck now, he went to go pick his parents and other evidence up but-” Jim’s hands readjusted their grips on Spock’s arms. “Can you take me? I don’t wanna do this without you.” His voice grew raspy as his breathing hitched and heightened in speed. “I mean, it’s okay if you can’t I mean I know I am springing this on you last minute I’m so sorry I had no idea sorry I can’t explain why but I can’t imagine going without you and I hope I’m not pressuring you into doing anything but-”

“Jim.” Spock said, and held Jim’s forearms with his hands. “I am here, and I will support you. Breathe, it is illogical to waste energy that you need to save. Let us proceed.” 

 

\-----  
He almost said it, just like he did with all of his friends at some point. “I love you.”   
The gratitude Jim felt towards Spock’s kindness and patience made him want to say it, but somehow the phrase that came naturally to him got caught in his throat. Instead, he said “Thank you.” 

The moment was quickly forgotten though, as Spock ushered him to his car. He was conscious that he was beginning to disassociate, already feeling the floaty feeling that came with it. He started laughing at a random thought, and Spock gave him a quizzical look as he buckled his seatbelt.

“I was just thinking…” Jim trailed off as Spock pulled out of the parking lot, and picked back up again when they hit their first stoplight. “Coach is gonna be so mad. His captain and his best goalie- gone!” He laughed quietly to himself, and Spock raised an eyebrow in amusement and slight worry.

The drive to the courthouse felt like it took hours, Jim quietly staring out the window the entire time. Spock focused on Jim’s breathing, reaching a hand over every once in awhile to calm him. Without thinking, Jim clasped onto it like a lifeline, his palms sweaty and shaking. He refused to release except for when they had to get out of the car, and once they were side by side again Jim clutched Spock’s hand once more.   
He walked at a faster pace than Spock, guiding him through the courthouse, stopping only to ask which room they were supposed to go into. They were stopped by a security guard but only for a moment, before Jim explained their situation. They were told to wait since there was only a few minutes before a scheduled break, and so they sat in a bench down the hall from the doors.   
‘Sat’ wasn’t an accurate adjective for how Jim was sitting however, he was constantly shifting and taking deep breaths, attempting not to panic. He mindlessly played with Spock’s fingers, wishing that he could know what Spock was thinking. Spock was a lot calmer than him. Why can’t he be more like Spock?

 

Walking into the courtroom was unbearable.   
Jim remembered the first time he was drunk, sophomore year and he drank way too much too soon. Walking into the courtroom was kind of like that, where he felt dizzy and like he was a machine that was too oiled. His skin felt like it was five inches thick, and the only thing he could tell for certain was that Spock had his hand on Jim’s back.   
He felt like his skin was probably radiating heat, and could feel all eyes on him. He stumbled toward his mother but Spock stopped him with a grip on his shoulder, and pointed Jim’s attention to a barrier that he could not cross. Instead Spock guided him to sit with Bones, who immediately placed a hand against Jim’s forehead, then checked his pulse. 

“I brought you water,” Bones said, lifting up a plastic cup from the floor and passing it over to Jim, who took it numbly with both hands. “Watch it,” Bones warned as Jim started to accidentally tilt the cup over too much to one side. His hands were trembling, so Bones took the cup from Jim and held the cup himself for Jim to drink out of.

Winona turned from her chair and reached over the barrier to pat Jim’s knee with her hand. “Baby it’s almost over. We need you to testify last and then we will be done. Can you do that for me honey?”

Before she finished speaking, Bones leaned over to Spock and practically growled, “Brace the back of his neck.”

Spock fought the urge to question, and followed orders anyway. He put a gentle but firm hand on the nape of Jim’s neck and Jim pushed back into it, his eyes open and wild. He shoved his fist in his mouth to keep from making any noise and he started to draw within to himself as if his body was collapsing. He started hyperventilating, and Bones slipped from his chair to take a knee next to Jim.

“What day of the week is it?” Bones asked softly.

“F-Friday. Yeah?” Jim asked, focusing on Bones’ eyes which were locked on him. 

“You are doing great, kid. What’s your name?”

“James Tiberius Kirk.”

“Age?”

“17.”

“Favorite color?” 

“Blue.”

“Who am I?”

“Bones. Leonard Horatio McCoy, 18. Yellow.”

“Who is that?” Bones asked, pointing back at Spock. Jim turned his half-lidded eyes to Spock, and he had a queasy smile on his face. 

“Spock. I dunno his full name. 17? Green, yellow, maybe blue. Lovely.” His voice was soft and less shaky than it was before.

“Jim. My full name is S'chn T'gai Spock.” 

Jim tried really hard to focus on Spock’s name, even mouthed it to himself, but he was suddenly looking past Spock, towards the doors that opened. Bones and Spock followed his gaze, and they saw Frank.  
He had his hands cuffed behind his back, and his eyes were dark and bagged. His five o’clock shadow had grown shaggy, a grotesque salt and pepper look to go with his greasy unwashed hair. The orange of the jumpsuit he was in reflected a sallow color in his cheeks.  
Instinctively, Spock started moving his hand on Jim’s neck in what he hoped was soothing motions. Jim averted his eyes straight to the floor, and Bones shot daggers at Frank, staring him down as he was walked to his seat.

“He belongs in those fuckin’ cuffs,” Bones huffed under his breath, as he turned back to Jim. “Breathe, Jim. In through your mouth, hold it, atta boy, now slowly outta the mouth. You’re doing great. I’m here, and Spock’s here, and a bunch of big bad cops. You are safe.” Bones’ words were better suited for a wall, because Jim didn’t hear much over his own breathing. 

He tried his best to do what Bones said, but the room was starting to go foggy. Jim had forgotten how long he had been in this room, the big room with green carpets and cherry wood detailing. Pretty. Everything else started to fade away-

“That’s it, Jimbo. Look at the area. My mom and dad are behind you, remember they have your back. What color is the ceiling?” The voice- Bones? Was disconnected from Jim.

But Jim started to mumble under his breath and leaned his head back anyway. “Gray?” Jim wondered, looking at how ridiculously high the ceiling was. Why did a courthouse need such high ceilings? Why was he in a courthouse? How did a nice kid like Jim end up in a place like this?

“Bones?” Jim asked quietly, still staring off at the ceiling.

“Yeah Jim?” Bones replied patiently, searching Jim’s face.

“Why am I here? Did I do something wrong?” He sniffed loudly, and held his hand out to Spock, who took it and held it tightly.

Both Bones and Spock started to reassure him when the court was ordered back in session.  
Jim was still barely there, trying hard to focus but also not look at Frank. Was he looking at him? Was he staring him down with those dead shot eyes that he loathed and feared so much? Bones was tense, at the edge of his seat. Spock was calm as the ocean, his hands gripping Jim’s. Did Spock love him? He must, because you don’t hold your friends hands like this. Hope filled Jim’s dizzy head before he remembered where he was. Spock was helping him, just comforting him in this time. Jim was in trouble.  
The voice of the judge, which was booming and muffled to Jim’s ears, took him from his ruminations. Most of his words were lost to Jim until he heard his name in his mom’s voice.

“Your honor, we would like to call the victim, James Kirk to the stand.”

Victim, Jim thought numbly. That was who he was now, James Kirk: victim. He couldn’t remember the last time his mom had called him James except for when he was in trouble. Was he in trouble? He stood up and almost forgot to release Spock’s hands, but when he did he realized how sweaty his own were. He wanted to stop and apologize to Spock, but he was lead away by a large guard.  
He was mostly focusing on walking, putting one foot after the other. That meant he didn’t see when Frank lunged over his desk to try and grab him, his face red and tendons sticking out of his neck. He heard him though, an angry roar he knew too well.   
In reaction, Jim immediately hit the floor trying to run. Before he could get far, a large hand gripped his elbow, yanking him back. Instinctively, he cried out, and turned to hit Frank, but it was actually the guard that was walking with him. Behind the guard, Frank was being wrestled down by other security, as the judge demanded order in the court. The audience was loud and chaotic, the loudest voice among them was Bones’.

“DON’T YOU TOUCH HIM!” Rang through the courtroom. Bones, it was Bones saying that, Jim recognized numbly. Jim wrestled out of the grasp of the guard and scrambled to the voice, where Bones’ hands found and gripped his shoulders.

“Jim, you gotta go back,” Bones said, his voice scratchier than before. Bones sounded like he was in pain too. He held Jim away from him as Jim was reaching for Bones, trying to pull him into a hug. Jim was crying, hard and pathetic and frantic. ‘You gotta go back. I’m here, I promise. He can’t hurt you.”

“Bones-” Jim choked out, and Bones gave his shoulders a squeeze. “I can’t-”

“You can.”

 

Jim wasn’t sure how he made it up to the witness stand, the guard’s hand firmly upon his shoulder, nor did he remember much about swearing an oath. He remembered putting his sweaty hand on a leathery book.   
It felt like he being probed aliens, as he was asked several questions that were uncomfortably personal. Men in business suits asked him these questions with blank faces, and Jim silently wondered if his dad wore suits. Would he wear black or navy?  
Did Frank provide for you? Did Frank drink often? When he hit you, did you provoke him first? Did he ever try to touch you sexually? How did Frank hurt you? Did you ever try to stop him from drinking? Did you ever drink his alcohol? Did you fear for your life while living there? Did he ever threaten you?   
As time wore on, the questions made Jim sweat and shift in his seat. 

“You don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to.” The lawyer said, and it echoed in Jim’s head like he was miles away in a cave rather than five feet away from him. The voice sounded slimy.

Jim shook his head, and kept talking. He didn’t feel human, as he kept rubbing his hands together but he couldn't feel anything. He started to get light headed because he could feel only Frank’s eyes boring into him, but he knew that talking was important. In order to focus and to keep from passing out, he looked for Bones in the seating area. He knew Bones would give him strength, with a look from the strong eyes and his gruff smile. Momentarily, he had an epiphany to himself, realizing Bones was the strongest man he knew.  
Instead of meeting his gaze, Bones was looking down at his phone, his eyebrows furrowed as he typed on the screen rapidly. Disappointed and slightly crestfallen, Jim caught Spock’s eye instead. Spock was focused solely on Jim, and he gave Jim what would be considered a smile by Spock’s standards. He nodded at Jim for him to continue, and it was possible his panic was clouding his judgement but Jim swore he saw adoration in Spock’s eyes. If not, there was at least a fierce protectiveness and faithful look.  
The interrogation felt like it dragged on for hours, and Jim found himself becoming annoyed as some questions were repeated by different people. Was no one listening? How many fucking times did he need to explain to people his step dad beat him shitless? How many episodes did Jim need to reveal for Frank to get what he deserves? He just kept reminding himself that what he was doing was important and that he had to grit his teeth and bear it. 

“That will be all James,” The judge said finally, and Jim could feel himself deflate. Anxiety crept in his stomach, anxiety that he didn’t say enough, anxiety that he would have to pass Frank again. Luckily, as the judge finished explaining something Jim couldn't be bothered to listen to, Frank was pulled up and taken out of the courtroom. 

As soon as the guard guided him past the gate to the audience section, Jim all but collapsed in the arms of Bones and Spock. He was exhausted, shaking now from lack of energy, his head slack on Bones’ shoulder, as the other two boys clasped his arms.

“I’m so goddamn proud of you.” Bones choked out quietly, his hand just stroking Jim’s arm. Was he crying? Spock just held Jim’s other side solidly, strangely quiet. 

“Jim, you did so well,” April said, David right behind her. Jim wearily turned himself to them, and they embraced him as well. Winona was next, and she held him the longest, her hand braced on the back of his neck. 

“That was brave of you to do that, Jim.” Sarek spoke up, from where he and Amanda stood behind Spock and Bones. Amanda had tears in her eyes and Jim basically swung from mother to mother, Amanda squeezing him into a tight hug, Sarek even managing a shoulder brush.

“Are you okay to go?” Bones asked Jim when he was passed back over to him. 

“Is it over? Aren’t we gonna hear a verdict?” 

Bones gave Jim a curious and searching look. “Did you not hear the judge at all?” When Jim shook his head no, Bones continued, “We are reconvening tomorrow. We had all the testifiers go up, and so now it is up to the jury to decide. they gave us the option to wait here, but we thought it would be better for you to get rest.”

Thinking back, Jim couldn’t remember looking at the jury. He wondered who they were, people who were like him who got to decide Frank’s fate.  
As they walked towards the exit, Jim’s head was clearing. He looked around and took in the spectators before he looked forwards once more. Lined up against the wall near the exit, Jim recognized Scotty.  
And Chekov. And Coach Pike.   
His entire rugby team was there, wearing their game uniforms. Chekov wiped a tear from his eye before he stepped forward and pulled a shellshocked Jim into a hug. 

“Jim. I don’t know vhat to say. I’m sorry.” Chekov said into his shoulder, and as Jim hugged him back, Jim asked, “Bu- how? The game?”

Chekov pulled back with a smile and a sniff, and Scotty answered, “Bones texted me. We all wanted to be here for you, Jim. We forfeited the game- I think- unless they are just gonna reschedule it- I dunnae.” Scotty held up his hands, his face devoid of regret. His eyes were wet like Chekov’s, but he choked it back. 

Pike stepped forward and clapped his hand on Jim’s shoulder. “Son, that was the bravest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Jim grinned weakly, and joked, “Braver than that time my freshman year when Captain Harvey played after he broke his ankle mid-game?”

Pike chuckled, “Way braver.”

 

They all agreed to regroup at a park near Spock’s house, and they did just that. Well into the night, people started to go home. They succeeded in cheering Jim up and making sure he knew damn well he was loved, and quite frankly Jim was exhausted. He sat on one of the park benches like it was a throne, the group of his friends crowded around to hug him one last time before they went home. Sarek had left earlier, wanting to have dinner prepared for when they returned home.

“I feel like a king with my loyal subjects,” Jim said, grinning down at all of his friends. 

“I would follow you anywhere,” Spock offered quietly, before reddening slightly and continuing, “Into battle, of course.”

“Hell, didn’t we all prove that today?” Scotty asked, in a lighthearted tone. He clapped a hand onto Jim’s knee, and looked at him genuinely. “We love ya.” 

Scotty was Chekov’s ride home, so they hugged Jim together and left, Chekov still looking almost as shaken as Jim was as they walked away.

“It ees good luck it ees a Friday,” Chekov said quietly to Scotty, his voice and yawn carrying over to Spock’s keen ear.  
After the larger part of the group had gone home only Jim, Bones, Spock, Amanda, Winona, and Pike had remained.

Bones helped Jim stand. Spock found his place easily at Jim’s other side.

“Will you get home alright, Jimmy?” Coach Pike asked, pulling his car keys out from his pocket. They hung on a long green lanyard that had the school mascot, a black bull dog, printed on it. 

Jim didn’t hear his question because Bones was saying something, a joke probably, to him, so Amanda stepped forward and said, “Don’t worry about Jim. He’s got a ride home with us.”

Pike adjusted his white baseball cap. “I never took the time to introduce myself to you, how rude of me.” He held a hand out, and Amanda shook it with a warm smile. “My name is Christopher Pike, I’m Jim’s rugby coach.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Spock’s mom. As soon as this trial is over, I am also seeking temporary custody of Jim as well.” Amanda said with no hesitation, not noticing Winona’s cringe behind her.

Pike looked past Amanda at Winona in confusion. “How come?”

Winona shook her head and waved a hand. “I can’t stay here, but Jim can. Simple as that.” 

“Where are you staying in the time being?” Pike asked, shifting from one foot to another, his arms crossed.

“I will be at a hotel tonight, but thanks to Amanda’s hospitality I stayed at her home last night.” Winona said, brushing a stray hair from her face.

“You don’t have to do that, you are more than welcome to stay with us!” Amanda offered, but Winona smiled almost apologetically. 

“I would not want to overstay my welcome.”

 

\---  
Pike followed Amanda’s car with Winona in his, as he offered to take her to the nearest hotel but she wanted to get her things from the house. Dinner at Spock’s house was mostly silent, Jim wrapped up in several blankets despite Spock’s house being typically several degrees hotter than normal homes.

“Shock blankets,” Jim mumbled jokingly. Spock was curious as to how Jim reacted, a low mood at the start and during the trial, but he seemed to have a better one with his friends at the park. Now returned to Spock’s house, his mood seemed to have lowered again. A fascinating if not vexing occurrence that Spock observed.

Thankfully, per Leonard’s request Jim ate his dinner heartily and went back for seconds, also drinking a full glass of water due to Amanda’s prodding.  
Spock texted Leonard under the table that they were home safe and that Jim was fed, and Leonard did the same back. He sent a text from David that Spock read aloud for Jim to hear.

“‘Son- April and I are honest to God the proudest we have ever been of you. You showed us what true strength was, and we can’t imagine how hard it must have been for you. We love you so much, and if you will let us, we would like to do something for you. Anything you want or need, all you need to do is ask. We are so blessed to have you in our lives, thank you for being the best second son anyone could ask for. We love you.” The text was genuine, and if Jim had read it to himself he probably would have cried. Read in Spock’s at times monotonous voice lightened it up more, his voice pausing awkwardly at times.

“I am gratified to have witnessed firsthand that you have a wide support system, Jim.” Sarek said, his dinner finished as he removed his napkin from his lap. He folded it carefully before setting it onto the table. “I hope you are aware of the fact that you have the same support here.” He looked at Jim for a few seconds before he excused himself for bed, as he reminded everyone that he needed to leave early in the morning. 

Jim excused himself next, brushing his hand over Spock’s shoulder before he went to bed. With only Amanda and Spock remaining, Amanda visibly relaxed. Neither spoke for a time, until around ten minutes had passed. 

Finally, Amanda leaned forward, and placed her head in her hands. “I hate Winona.” Her voice was soft, but Spock could detect the underlying anger beneath it.

Shocked, Spock did not respond, so instead Amanda continued. “All I have seen is a wonderful boy, who is hardworking, brilliant, and charming. I’ve seen people have their lives destroyed and come back up through any hardship, and I don’t want to invalidate Winona’s struggle, but… I just can’t get past it. Jim deserves more.”

Spock nodded to himself, his hands folding in his lap. 

“And overstay her welcome?” Amanda snorted to herself in bitter disbelief. “I would say she _understayed_ her welcome.” Amanda brushed the stray hairs from her face, then rubbed her eyes. “It doesn’t bother you that I invited Jim to permanently live with us does it? I know it’s rather sudden but-”

“It does not bother me in the slightest.” Spock said suddenly.

Amanda smiled. “I’m very glad you and Jim are friends. I had no fear you would make friends here but I had no idea you would be with such a lovely young man. You haven’t known each other for too long but it warms my heart to see you both so close.”

“Mother…”

“Yes love?”

“I am for Jim living here, because of who he is but the emotional reasoning is… not direct. There are many reasons - kinship and friendship included- but a part is not unlike how Father at times talked about you when he was intoxicated last winter-” Spock paused, the click almost audible in his head. 

Amanda’s eyebrows were raised, and her mouth was slightly agape. 

“Do you…?” Amanda left the question open, as Spock started to to cringe slightly.

“Apparently so, this is what all logic points to.” Spock’s eyebrows were furrowed and his mouth scrunched up. He felt anxious at how his mother would respond, but when he looked up to search her expression she was absolutely delighted.

“This is wonderful. Now I feel compromised about you two sleeping in the same room but, wow. I mean wow!” Spock gave her a strained look at her as her voice began to raise. “I’m just so glad! This is your first crush is it not?” Spock nodded, his face expressionless, internally regretting the word ‘crush’.

Amanda exhaled another ‘wow’, and then leaned back in her chair.

“I am… unsure of what to do with this information.” Spock said, blankly looking out the window that led to the backyard. The back porch light was on, and the light rippled off the water of the pool gently.

“Jim has been through alot dear. I think what is best is that you wait for him to come to you, when he is ready. He may take some time, but be patient with him. For now enjoy your friendship!” Amanda said thoughtfully.

“I agree. I had no intention of acting upon these feelings especially with how emotionally vulnerable he is.”

Amanda smiled proudly. “You are brilliant. He will let you know when he is ready if he wants a relationship or to explore feelings. I’m proud of you kiddo. Now, we need to go to bed soon. It is a big day tomorrow.”

They both stood, and after Amanda pulled him into a hug, they went to bed.   
Spock found Jim in his bed exactly how he had the night before, and he let out a sigh. He continually expected to find Jim sleeping on the floor, but was once more pleased to find him in his bed. Seeing as he apparently had emotions for Jim, this enjoyment made sense, but also made him more cautious than before. Spock was emotionally drained, probably not as much as Jim was, but he still felt it. Sleep was well deserved, and so he felt no qualm about pulling off his shirt and crawling in next to Jim.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE MADE IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MR. DICKWAD IS OUT OF THE PICTURE!!!!!!!!! [insert a picture here of me and bones popping champagne] DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD!!!!!! I KNOW I DON'T SAY IT IN THIS CHAPTER BUT yes, of course I am sending Frank's ass to jail. yeah, seriously, if you wanna see something specific let me know? If not, I'll probably wrap this up soon and just make a separate fic in the same universe for Pavel

**Author's Note:**

> okay this was meant to be left as sort of a cliffhangerish thing! let me know what you think or if I made any mistakes? Thank you for making it to the end!!


End file.
